Kizuna
by Kyogre
Summary: DISCONTINUED Uzumaki's a girl, Uchiha's on her team. And Inuzuka's just caught in the middle. Team Seven takes dysfunctionality to new levels. fem-naruto
1. RE Introduction: Team Seven

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KIZUNA

(RE): Introduction I

(Note: This is a new version of the "first chapter")

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Some words were stronger than jutsu, Kiba had learned early in his genin career. Eight words had (ruined) _changed_ his life.

"Team Seven: Inuzuka Kiba, Uzumaki Kizuna, Uchiha Sasuke."

Those eight words sealed his fate – he was now part of the most dysfunctional team of their year (and probably the last ten years too). Worse than the new Ino-Shika-Cho-and-smoking-old-guy, worse than Hyuuga-Bug-Guy-Haruno-their-hot-teacher.

Observe. That morning was a perfect example. In one corner, Uchiha Sasuke – rookie of the year, "genius", heartthrob, and all-round jerk. No doubt it was a _great honor_ to be in the same cell as the great Uchiha Sasuke, but damnit, the guy was an ass-hat, first class. Worse than Aburame Shino, even. Shino was just silent. Uchiha smirked. Not counting insults, he had said all of ten words to his teammates in the two weeks they'd been Team 7.

Even now, Uchiha stood to one side, leaning against a tree with his arms crossed, his face blank.

In the other corner, Uzumaki Kizuna – loudmouth, brash, _worst kunoichi ever_. Also, she hit very hard. Also, obsessive. Even now, she was cranking out push-ups at an impressive rate, considering she'd been at it for an hour.

Yes, they had been waiting pointlessly for over an hour, which brought Kiba to the last and greatest weirdo of their team – Hatake Kakashi. Jounin, genius, living legend, pervert. Always late. Sadist.

It was barely light, and mist lingered over the river under their red "meeting" bridge. And Kakashi-sensei wouldn't show up until it around noon, most likely.

"That's it!" Kiba declared, jumping off the bridge's railing. On his head, Akamaru stirred but quickly went back to sleep. "I'm going to the mission office. We don't need him to get a lousy D-rank, and even that'll be better than sitting around here."

Finishing a push-up, Uzumaki jumped deftly to her feet and dusted off her hands. "Sure! Stupid scarecrow can't blame us for wanting to be useful to the village, right?" she said brightly, adding at a mutter, "A little extra money won't hurt, either."

As they started to walk away, Uchiha spoke up irritably. "Oi. We were ordered to wait here."

Kiba shared a look with Uzumaki. They both shrugged and glanced back at their teammate. "Well then, _you_ can stay here," Kiba suggested.

"Bye-bye!" Kizuna called back, waving over her shoulder.

"Dog-breath! Loser!" Uchiha bit out, instantly catching their attention. Kiba twitched, but before he could retaliate, Kizuna had already pulled out a handful of shuriken and taken aim at Uchiha. It was all he could do to grab her wrist to stop her from actually throwing them.

Not that Kiba liked Uchiha, but he felt duty-bound to keep his teammates from killing each other. "Hey, hey. Don't go straight to live weapons. Just punch him or something," he suggested.

Kizuna huffed. "I'll show him I'm not a loser with the super ninja tool skills Tenten-nee taught me!" she declared. Pouting, she muttered, "Everyone helped me so much. I won't let him make fun of their hard work."

"I'm pretty sure he'd insulting you as a student, not them as teachers," Kiba pointed out. "And you don't seem mad for our Academy teachers."

"They were useless jerks anyway… Except maybe Iruka-sensei," Kizuna complained. "You always skipped out too."

Uchiha snorted mockingly.

"Up yours, bastard!" Kiba and Kizuna chorused.

It took them another half an hour and several arguments, but they did make it to the mission office.

"Team 7, reporting for duty!" Kiba proclaimed (rather overdramatically). Uchiha shot him a glare, probably wondering who had made him leader. Well, it _was_ Kiba's idea…

Uzumaki pumped her fist into the air and called out, "Give us your toughest mission! Let's go!"

The good shinobi of the mission room were long since used to both new genin teams in general and Team 7 in particular, so they completely ignored the commotion.

"D rank," one said. "Help a caravan unload and deliver their goods to the buyers." The chuunin leveled Kiba, who had stepped forward to take the mission scroll, with a serious stare. "These traders bring important business to Konoha, so _don't break anything_."

"Would we do that?" Kiba quipped, his nervous chuckles trailing off as the chuunin's glare intensified. "I think they haven't forgotten about the 'grocery shopping for the Elders' fiasco…" he muttered to Kizuna as they filed out of the room, Uchiha striding proudly (sulkily) ahead.

Kizuna pouted. "It _wasn't_ my fault," she grumbled. "How was I supposed to know that would happen…?"

"Hey, whatever," Kiba grinned. "Now Mom can't send me grocery shopping for a while." Since no supermarket in Konoha would let any member of Team 7 through their doors.

Outside the Hokage tower, Uchiha was waiting for them sullenly. He glared as they approached.

Kiba stared at him blankly for a moment before rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "Oh yeah, I've got the address…"

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The caravan traders had stopped at an inn near one of the commercial parts of town. An inn clerk fetched one of the traders, and it quickly became obvious why they had needed to hire someone.

The man obviously had the hangover from hell, cursing his poor luck in having to be the one to deal with the shinobi. Kiba and Akamaru wrinkled their noses at the smell of vomit lingering around him.

"Alright! Let's get going! What're we doing?" Kizuna bounced energetically, making the trader grimace. He winced as they stepped out into the morning sunlight, which turned Kizuna's yellow hair and orange vest-shorts combo particularly bright.

"Ergh… r-right. We deal in rare spices from far south," the trader mumbled. "Everything is marked. Here's the list of orders…"

Digging around in his pockets, he pulled out a stained and wrinkled sheaf of papers and held it toward the genin. Kiba reached for them, but Sasuke snatched the papers away first. As the trader stumbled back inside, the two genin locked gazes in a fierce glaring contest.

"How come you get the papers? This is my mission," Kiba growled.

"It's _our_ mission," Kizuna pointed out. "And, anyway, let him have them. We'll do the real work."

Sasuke scowled. "I can carry things just as well. But I can't trust you idiots to figure out what goes where." He smirked. "You'd need to be able to read to do that."

He received two vicious glares.

The spice traders had two carts full of barrels and crates. Sniffing, Kiba sneezed and made a face.

"Start by unloading everything and sorting according to size and color marking," Sasuke ordered.

His teammates grumbled as they set to work. "Probably for the best you're sitting it out," Kiba said mockingly as he stumbled back a step under the weight of the crate Kizuna had tossed out of the cart. "You wouldn't last ten minutes at this…"

Sasuke's disgruntled frown twitched but he didn't look up from sorting through the order list. Peeking out of the cart, Kizuna grinned. "Wouldn't want to pull a muscle," she laughed. "What would the fan club think?" With annoying ease, she tossed another crate at Kiba, who had to fight to stay on his feet. "Girls prefer a strong man, right?"

"And men prefer a demure maiden, not a gorilla," Sasuke bit out.

"Not the merchandize! No!" Kiba yelled, waving his arms wildly as Kizuna hefted another box and prepared to throw it at Uchiha in retaliation.

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"Alright. First order is to 'Maha Curry'," Sasuke said, looking over the pile of crates his teammates had assembled. "They need three medium red, two large green and two small blue."

"Me 'n Kizuna'll take the two large green," Kiba volunteered, smirking a little. "You can take the small blue ones and maybe a medium red… if you're up for it."

"We'll still need two trips," Sasuke said irritably.

Kiba thought for a moment before brightening. "Not if Akamaru helps! Come on, let's do it!" As he made a hand seal, Akamaru yawned and jumped in front of him. "Human-Beast Clone!"

When the smoke dispersed, one of the two Kibas smirked. "Now we'll get it done in no time!"

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Collapsing to his hands and knees, Kiba panted shakily. Nearby, Akamaru poofed back into his own shape and rolled over onto his back, utterly exhausted.

Uchiha eyed him disparagingly, but he wasn't up to wasting energy on insults. Covered in a fine layer of perspiration, Sasuke's skin was flushed red, quite noticeable against his usual pale tone. Kiba thought, rather uncharitably, that they shouldn't have given him all the lightest loads.

"Pull yourselves together, guys!" Uzumaki called out, entirely too cheery. She wasn't fresh as a daisy, but that was the only consolation, since she looked ready to keep going… all day. Then again, Kiba had seen her do physical training pretty much an entire day through when Kakashi-sensei stood them up entirely.

"We've still got half to go," Uchiha pointed, catching his breath. He smirked. "Giving up already, dog-breath?"

Kiba twitched. "Hell no," he ground out.

"Well, you and Akamaru take a break," Kizuna said, with no regard for his male pride. "We'll take this next one by ourselves."

"Rest up," Sasuke seconded, still smirking. "You need it."

"Argh!" Kiba howled, indignation driving him to his feet. "It's not over!" he proclaimed, one hand searching through his pouch. Holding up a small sphere between two fingers, he boasted, "Here! Our special 'soldier pill'! With this, I can keep fighting on!"

"Alright!" Kizuna cheered, thrusting one fist into the air.

Unlike the excitable kunoichi, Sasuke only stared blankly for a moment. "We're not fighting, moron," he finally said. "And just what are _you_ cheering for?"

Realizing something, Kizuna stopped in mid-yell. "But aren't those things rare?" she wondered. "That's no good. You should be careful with your equipment!" She nodded to herself.

"This is a matter of pride! My pride as a man is on the line!" Kiba declared. Decisively, he threw the pill into his mouth and chewed. Kizuna watched him with avid interest while Sasuke pointedly looked away. Swallowing heavily, Kiba paused dramatically.

Suddenly, he shuddered, making Kizuna jump back in surprise.

"Let's… GO!" Kiba roared, jumping toward the remaining crates as a burning aura engulfed him.

For a moment, Kizuna stared in surprise. Then, she grinned. "Alright!" she cheered, hurrying after him.

"You don't even know where we're going," Sasuke grumbled, following his two morons.

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"Delivery," Sasuke announced as he and his teammates trooped to the back of an exotic foods store.

An employee greeted him politely. "Ah, the spices! That's great. We just ran out too." As Sasuke held out the order list, the man signed after his store's entry. "Just set them over there," he gestured.

Kiba jogged up first, dropping his crate a little more roughly than strictly a good idea. The store clerk bowed shallowly, like most civilians respectful even to the lowest rank of shinobi.

As Kiba shifted from foot to foor, Kizuna set her load next to his. The stack she had carried was almost taller than her, and as she stayed a little hunched, it hid her pretty much entirely.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed – Kizuna almost seemed to be hiding, which was very odd for the normally gregarious girl. 'She was chatting up the last shopkeeper,' he thought a little irritably.

"Come on!" Kiba exclaimed impatiently, grabbing Kizuna's hand and pulling her from behind the crates.

As Sasuke watched in surprise, the store clerk's polite expression shifted into a nasty frown at the sight of his teammate.

Kizuna laughed, pulling her hand away from Kiba. "You guys finish up here! I'll go ahead to the next one!" she said. Snatching the order list away from Sasuke, she danced away. "Bet I can finish before you!" she called over her shoulder.

Smirking at the challenge, Kiba hurried after her. The two of them began to race back to the traders' inn, but Sasuke held back for a moment, studying the store clerk.

"Something wrong?" he asked.

The man switched back to his polite smile as he turned to Sasuke. "No, of course not, Uchiha-san. Thank you for your hard work."

Sasuke nodded, although he wasn't in the least satisfied with this response, and followed his teammates.

'Come to think of it, Kizuna avoided going into many of the place we went to,' he realized.

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" 'm dyin'…" Kiba moaned, his voice muffled by the dirt he had face-planted into.

Kizuna glanced at Sasuke. "What's wrong with him?" she wondered.

Sasuke snorted. "Side effect. Soldier pills are like caffeine. You crash afterward."

"Oh…" Kizuna drew out. "Kiba! That was stupid!" she chided. "You shouldn't do stuff that isn't worth it in the end!"

"No shit," Kiba grumbled. Sasuke just snorted again.

Glaring a little at both of them, Kizuna huffed. "I mean, if you now there's gonna be consequences that bad, you should find another way!"

"Or you should just acknowledge you're a loser," Sasuke muttered.

Kiba tried to raise his head to glare, failed and ended up moaning pathetically.

Looking away from the truly sad sight her teammate presented, Kizuna jerked her thumb toward the small stack of boxes that remained from their mission. "Let's finish up. It'll only take one person anyway. Who are those for?"

Sasuke didn't bother consulting the list. "Ichiraku Ramen," he said without inflection. Pausing, he added, "You take them."

Brightening at the mere name of her favorite establishment, Kizuna said, "Really? I didn't know they got special spices! Wow, I wonder if that means the ramen's going to be extra good now!" Glancing back at Kiba, she frowned a little. "What are you going to do? What about Kiba?"

"I'm going back to tell the clients we're done, finish up at the mission office and go back to the bridge," Sasuke said, shrugging. Honestly, he didn't really care what happened to Inuzuka.

"That's no good," Kizuna protested. "Me and Kiba got you into this, so we should deal with it. I know! How about we all go to lunch at Ichiraku's? We'll get old man Teuchi's signature, take it back to the clients and go get paid. I'll carry Kiba!"

Looking between the beaming kunoichi, the dog loser on the ground and the remaining spices, Sasuke sighed. "I'll finish the mission," he said. And that was pretty much a "yes".

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They found Kakashi at Ichiraku's.

Kizuna waved cheerfully for a moment before she had to readjust her grip on Kiba as he began to slide to one side. As she jogged over to their jounin teacher, Sasuke pointed ignored him and marched to the back of the ramen shop to finish the mission properly.

"Yo," Kakashi greeted, raising one hand.

"Hi!" Kizuna called back, dropping Kiba onto a stool and settling down herself. Kiba moaned, and Kakashi's single eye lingered on him for a moment before sliding shut in a happy crescent. "We did a mission!" Kizuna explained cheerfully. "Sasuke's finishing up. This is our last stop! We'll have some lunch and then tell the clients we're done."

Listening to her, Kakashi put one hand on his chin. "Hm," he drew out thoughtfully. "That's very good… but didn't you have some other plans today?"

"We did?" Kizuna wondered, pausing thoughtfully. "I don't remember. What plans did we have, Kakashi-sensei? Were they important?"

"Oh yes, very important," Kakashi said seriously, leaning as if confiding some great secret. "Orders from a superior officer. _Very_ important."

"Liar…" Kiba groaned from his place, face flat on the counter. "Jus' plannin' to stand us up again."

Kakashi looked mildly disapproving. "Now, now, you don't know that. Orders are orders."

"But when did we get orders?" Kizuna protested.

"Yesterday," Kakashi hinted.

"Nu-uh! Yesterday all we did was weed that garden all day. And then you said, 'See you tomorrow at seven-hundred.' But we didn't see you. So we went to get a mission."

Kakashi blinked, then sighed. 'I'm not even sure whether she'd being purposefully obtuse to get out of punishment, smartass or just too literal,' he thought. "Just eat your ramen," he finally suggested.

"Okay!" Kizuna beamed. Then, she stopped and looked around. "Where'd Sasuke go?"

'Away from you,' Kakashi thought, 'and your ramen. But mostly you. Why did I take these misfits anyway? …Oh yeah, orders.'

Kiba just moaned.

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The next day, Kakashi dragged them out of their beds at four in the morning, just to be cruel.

It was another day for Team 7.

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Notes:

Kizuna's name: "Kizuna" means "bond". It's pronounced "kee-z-nah". The "zu" sound is sort of slurred, like Sasuke's "su", so a more phonetic spelling of her name would be "Kizna", which I'll sometimes use when people address her familiarly.

Kizuna's abilities: Hinata taught her a bit in molding chakra and expelling it from your hands, so Kizuna has better control than Naruto (but not much). Also, she's got great aim because Tenten trained with her a bit, and very impressive physical strength, because Kizuna decided to prove that a kunoichi can be just as strong as a boy and overcompensated.

Pairings: the usual set of crushes all around, but nothing serious. Absolutely nothing between members of Team Seven.


	2. Side Story 1: Bell Test

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KIZUNA

Side Story 1: Bell Test

(This is an old chapter that I'm keeping for archive purposes. You can skip it. Chronologically, it would be before the "Introduction" chapter)

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Today was officially the worst day of Inuzuka Kiba's life.

Actually, the next few years were looking pretty gloomy too. It had all started that morning. At exactly 10:17:56, his fate had been sealed. Umino-sensei had said the words without so calmly…

"Team Seven: Inuzuka Kiba, Uzumaki Kizuna, Uchiha Sasuke."

Kiba had protested, of course. No doubt it was a _great honor_ to be in the same cell as the great Uchiha Sasuke, but damnit, the guy was a jerk, first class. Worse than Aburame Shino, even. Shino was just silent. Uchiha smirked.

Umino-sensei had explained, in no uncertain terms, that "it is tradition to put the highest and lowest-scoring graduates on the same team." Uchiha had smirked. Uzumaki had smirked too, then remembered that this was her team too. She protested as well. Umino-sensei had told her that her scores weren't that much better than Kiba's and that they both could learn a lot from Uchiha.

"What! Who the hell would want to learn from that bastard!"

Well, that was the point Uzumaki had to run for her life. Jealousy and outrage made Uchiha's fan club more vicious than ever.

It was now 2:37. And there they were, sitting in an abandoned classroom, waiting for their jounin instructor, who was two hours late. After the first ten minutes, Uzumaki had set an eraser in the door. At that point, Kiba hadn't yet realized just how crappy this day was and thus protested. Uzumaki had yelled a bit and then they'd ended up fighting for a while.

Kiba had to admit, Uzumaki was pretty good. For a girl. Although, her form wasn't all that good, or even there at all. But she was certainly vicious and stubborn. And she hit hard, too.

At the end of the first hour, Uzumaki took down the eraser and set a kunai trap instead. By then, Kiba had gotten tired of waiting too. But still, a kunai trap? With live kunai? Was she trying to kill their teacher?

When he asked her that, Uzumaki had given him a very flat look, the kind that only girls can do.

"He's a jounin, right? So he'll be fine," the blonde replied, shrugging.

She was right. The trap went off perfectly, and their instructor dodged the kunai easily, leaving it to 'thump' into the opposite wall of the corridor. After a moment of silence, the jounin stuck his head into the classroom. The lower half of his face was covered with a mask, and his crooked hitai-ate obscured one eye. It would have been hard for anyone to judge his expression, and Kiba wasn't all that good at reading people to begin with. All the same, the dog-user tensed, trying to pick up some hint of how to act.

Just as the jounin was about to speak (or at least Kiba thought he was about to speak), an eraser flew with unerring accuracy across the room. It hit him square in the center of his crooked hitai-ate, letting off a small white cloud.

Kiba laughed. Jounin sensei or not, there must be something wrong with a guy who dodges a kunai but gets beamed with an eraser. Uchiha snorted quietly.

Uzumaki snorted, crossing her arms. "You're late."

The jounin blinked, and Kiba had a feeling that his day had just gotten even worse.

"Hm…" The jounin rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "How can I say this? My first impression is… I don't like you guys."

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"OK… Let's begin with some introductions," Kakashi drawled, watching the three brats carefully. Despite what he'd said in the classroom, these three were at least more interesting than his last potential team.

The Inuzuka boy scratched at the back of his head, frowning. "What do ya wanna know?" he asked.

The introductions were actually a standard part of meeting a genin team. In the jounin instructor's handbook, there was a list of things that the instructor could ask. Some chose to ask all of them, some asked just one or two. Kakashi had always used the same four.

"How about… your likes, dislikes, dreams for the future, hobbies, stuff like that…" he explained shrugging. The three brats were watching him with that special blank expression.

"How about you go first," the Uzumaki brat suggested. "You look suspicious."

Oh, but she was a blunt one. Good with traps too. None of his other 'students' had used live kunai.

Kakashi smiled at her, but the gesture seemed to annoy the blonde even more.

"Oh… me? My name is Hatake Kakashi. I have no desire to tell you about my likes and dislikes. Dreams for the future?.. Hm… Well, I have lots of hobbies…" About one in every three groups asked him about himself. Kakashi had decided on the exact wording of his answer a long time ago.

The Uzumaki brat scowled and stood abruptly.

"Tch! Fine, ladies first," she declared, and paused to kick the Inuzuka brat in the ribs when he muttered something about 'what lady?' "My name is Uzumaki Kizuna. I like the people that I care about. I dislike stuck-up bastards. My dream is to become Hokage."

Oh… five points for taking initiative, fifteen for good choice of "like," ten for interesting dream…

Inuzuka choked.

"You? Hokage?" he mimicked, snickering.

"Shut it, dog boy!" The girl kicked again, and Kakashi wondered if maybe she stood up just to be in a better position for retaliating. Five points for good planning. "Keep being sexist, and I'll tell your sister!"

Five more for good knowledge of teammate/opponent's inner workings.

Inuzuka cowered away, looking horrified and nursing his ribs. Uzumaki Kizuna scowled for a moment before shrugging and sitting down. "Hobbies?... Anything except flower arranging and tea ceremonies," she concluded, shrugging again.

Watching the three of them, Kakashi smiled. Well, she and the Inuzuka brat would get along fine. But Sasuke hadn't said anything the entire time, and that wasn't so good.

"Next."

Dog-boy (it wasn't good to call one's students by nicknames, but it was such a good one) scowled again and didn't move. Sifting slightly for the first time since sitting down, Sasuke began.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. There are many things I dislike but I don't really like anything." ("Surprise, surprise," Uzumaki muttered, rolling her eyes. Hm… minus five points for blatant and blunt dislike of teammate… maybe… Kiba snickered, then winced and massaged his ribs. Plus five for pure physical strength, something most kunoichi lacked.) "And… I don't want to use the word dream but… I have an ambition. The resurrection of my clan and… to kill a certain man."

It wasn't surprising, but hearing a twelve-year-old say it so calmly… In the back of his mind, Kakashi sighed. Really, more interesting were the reactions of the other two. Uzumaki looked at her teammate sideways, apparently neither really surprised nor terribly interested. Inuzuka, by contrast, looked uncomfortable. He definitely hadn't expected this.

"And lastly…" Kakashi almost said 'dog-boy' here, but stopped himself. That nickname was far too catchy.

"Oh…" Kiba started in surprise, forcefully tearing his eyes away from his dark-haired teammate. "I'm Inuzuka Kiba. I like my family and Akamaru, I guess. I dislike... dunno… jerks and annoying people. My dream… to become a good shinobi. Hobbies… taking walks with Akamaru."

Kiba shrugged, falling silent. Kakashi almost felt sorry for him, a decidedly normal shinobi, especially by the standards of his clan, with two decidedly abnormal teammates. He lacked the other two's distant goal and almost obsessive focus.

Well, he'd help to keep them grounded.

"OK! That's enough of that. We will start our duties tomorrow." Ah, the magic words. Three sets of young, gullible, eager eyes turned toward him. Kakashi felt positively evil, in a good way. "But first, we're going to do something with just the four of us." He was baiting them blatantly now.

"What?" Dog-boy took the bait without blinking.

"Survival training." 'Kukukuku…' Inner Kakashi cackled. "Well… no… It's just that… when I tell you this, you guys are going to flip."

Pregnant silence. Cue heavy, serious look.

"Of the twenty-seven graduates, only nine will be chosen as genin. The rest will be sent back to the Academy. This training is a super-difficult exam with a failure rate of over sixty-six percent!"

Shocked silence.

"Hah, I told you you'd flip."

He couldn't wait until tomorrow.

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Since she didn't know from which direction he'd be coming, Kizuna didn't set up a trap. Instead, when Kakashi-sensei appeared, she pitched a spare kunai at him.

Naturally, the one-eyed bastard dodged with ease. No matter how stupid he looked, she reminded herself, he was still a jounin. And as much as she hated to admit it, Kizuna hadn't even been able to beat any of the teachers in the academy, who were only chuunin. (She'd tried enough times to be certain.)

Watching Kakashi-sensei set up a timer, Kizuna suddenly felt very, very apprehensive. There was no way she was going back to the academy. Absolutely no way. Whatever the hell he wanted, she'd do it. Do it with two-hundred percent.

"OK, it's set for noon," the scarecrow bastard began. "Here are two bells. Your task is to take these from me before then. Those who cannot get a bell by noon get no lunch. I'll not only tie you to one of those stumps, but also eat right in front of you."

On cue, Inuzuka's stomach growled loudly.

"You only need to get one bell. Since there are only two bells, one of you is definitely not eating. Also, the person who doesn't get a bell fails. So one of you is definitely going back to the Academy."

And that was the point she'd had enough.

"What the hell kind of test is that!" Kizuna yelled, stepping forward. Even glaring at their teacher, she could see Inuzuka shift and Uchiha scowl. "If we're going to be split up anyway, why the hell did we have to be on the same team in the first place! And what the hell kind of system is it, putting the lowest and highest scores together, then?"

The scarecrow bastard blinked. 'Hah,' her inner self crowed, 'a show of emotion!' While she paused to take a breath, Inuzuka caught on to what she was saying.

"Yeah, what's this about? Trying to make sure Uchiha passes? As if he didn't get enough privileges already!"

'Wow, dog-boy really looks crazy when he's mad,' Inner Kizuna noted. Fangs bared, short hair bristling, he really did look ferocious, but her mind wasn't on that anymore. For a moment, when Inuzuka had taken over their little bitch-fest, Kakashi-sensei had looked a little… disappointed? Because Inuzuka was jealous of Uchiha?

"Enough," Kakashi-sensei finally barked, shutting Kiba up. "This is how things are done. You may even use your shuriken. You won't succeed unless you come at me intending to kill." Here, his gaze shifted to her, silently adding, 'Not that you seem to have a problem with that.' Yeah, too bad he'd dodged that last one. The scarecrow bastard would have been a lot less annoying with a kunai through the heart.

"Start on my mark." His single eye slid shut, then snapped open as he barked, "Begin!"

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All three brats disappeared pretty quickly, Kakashi noted with mild cheerfulness as he pulled out Icha Icha Paradise. At least none of them were dumb enough to charge him straight on. He knew where they were, of course, but they weren't half-bad. Maybe they'd even figure it out…

Keeping his eye on the book, Kakashi mentally followed dog boy as, after a few moments, he began to move toward the Uzumaki brat. He'd almost expected that. Of the three, Inuzuka was the most likely to try to make an alliance, and he'd certainly pick Uzumaki over Sasuke. Kakashi hoped, distantly, that the kunoichi would put the clues together. None of the other ninja had, but kunoichi were generally better at perception and logic than their male counterparts, and she'd already taken the first step down the correct road of suspicion.

Well, Kakashi sort of hoped, but the chances really weren't that good. Most likely, it wouldn't even occur to those two to include Sasuke.

There was a confusion of movement, and three forms suddenly moved apart in the bushes. Ah, so dog boy knew his family's jutsu, the one that allowed him to turn his dog into a copy of himself. The dog-turned-human would undoubtedly attack while the real dog boy and Uzumaki set up a trap.

When the form of Inuzuka Kiba leapt out of the bushed, fangs bared, clawed hands reaching, Kakashi dodged it easily, without even looking up. The next two charges came no closer. Letting his opponent fly past for the fourth time, the jounin delivered a quick chop to the back of the neck. In a puff of smoke, the dog reverted back to its normal form and dropped to the ground.

The next attack came not from Uzumaki as Kakashi had expected, but from Sasuke, who unleashed a quick barrage of weapons with almost perfect timing. He'd seen Kakashi appear off guard as he looked at the dog in apparent surprise and had taken the chance to attack. Too bad all it did was put a few new holes in some poor wooden block and give away the dark-haired genin's position.

Well, he'd let the boy off this time, especially since things were definitely moving back in the clearing. It seemed his scheme of pretend-to-be-distracted-enough-to-drop-a-bell was drawing results. A certain blonde mouse (not that Uzumaki was quiet or shy in any way) had come to investigate the bait.

Too bad she disarmed his trap.

Just as the girl reached to grab the small bell, Kakashi made his re-entrance, swooping down on her spectacularly. The girl whipped around to face him and seemed to freeze in terror/surprise, but just as he was about to toss her into the nearest lake (that was all he'd do, really), dog boy charged out of the nearby bushes, moving in exactly the same way as his dog.

Well, at least he was already feeling protective of his teammate.

Kakashi dodged the charge easily, though it was a bit more troublesome when the blonde cheerfully tried to stab him in the back. Grabbing her arm as it swung past him by less than an inch, Kakashi twisted it behind her head, with the kunai pointing to the back of her neck. The blonde growled and nailed him in the shin.

Yeah, she definitely hit harder than the average kunoichi.

Kakashi didn't let go at the impact, like she'd intended, but he loosened his hold enough for her to duck down slightly. This, in turn, gave dog boy an opening to lunge for the jounin's head, jaws open wide. In the moment it took for Kakashi to weigh his options (he couldn't dodge while holding the girl, but he didn't really want to let her go while she still had the kunai), Uzumaki twisted her wrist in a way that really shouldn't have been possible, and suddenly the kunai was pointing straight at his mid-section. Just as the girl tensed and pushed threw her weight backward, apparently intent on gutting her poor instructor, Kakashi decided it was time to bail.

Letting go of her hand and simultaneously pushing her away, he dodged to the right, avoiding dog boy by a disturbingly small margin. Inuzuka hit the ground hard, but turned almost instantly and attacked again. Dodging him and the kunai Uzumaki threw at him, Kakashi almost missed the tell-tale 'twang' of sliced wire behind him. Half a second later, half a dozen knives drove deep into the tree that had been behind him.

Well, well, well. Some not-half-bad teamwork, some nice escape maneuvers, and a nice trap… Slicing a single wire with a kunai was actually very hard, Kakashi noted. So she had good aim too.

Then, the tree exploded.

The only warning Kakashi had was Inuzuka ducking at the last second before at least one of the knives handle-deep in the tree exploded. As chunks of wood went flying past him, the jounin noted that Uzumaki had simply used Kawarimi to make a quick, well-timed exist. Why hadn't dog boy done the same? Come to think of it, his attack patterns were entirely too simple…

That was the point that something hit him from behind. Except that Inuzuka was still crouched a little to the right, Uzumaki was in the woods two dozen feet away, and Sasuke was even further off. The something reached for the bells, almost grabbing them before Kakashi grabbed a fistful of fabric and threw the something away.

It was Inuzuka Kiba. Who had just spent the last seven minutes in Henge as his own dog.

Oh, but they weren't half-bad.

With a 'poof,' Akamaru changed back into dog form, panting heavily. Inuzuka seemed almost out of chakra as well. It must have been their limit to hold the forms as long as they did.

When the next volley of sharp-pointing objects flew toward him, courtesy of a very angry Uzumaki (she threw even harder when she was pissed), Kakashi disappeared into the woods to look for his last 'student.'

Sasuke was obliging enough to face Kakashi head-on. The Uchiha was certainly better than his teammates, with more fluid taijutsu form and better speed. His trap was good and his jutsu better. But a little subterranean decapitation left him helpless. By the time the dark-haired genin dug himself out, it would already be past noon.

Predictably, neither Uzumaki nor Inuzuka helped their teammate. In fact, they didn't even look for him. And when the timer rang, Kakashi collected the still half-buried Sasuke and unceremonialy tied him to the middle post.

The other two trudged in slowly, wearily and stared. Kakashi motioned for them to sit down, and they obeyed without question, moving to either side of their teammate.

"Well," he began in a deceptively mild tone, "there's no need for you to worry about going back to the Academy…"

Three surprised, hopeful looks…

"Because none of you will ever become shinobi."

"What!" The Uzumaki brat jumped to her feet, gesturing desperately. "You can't just… just…" She clenched her fists, shaking silently for a moment.

"I won't!" she declared, charging at the jounin. He'd expected that from one of them. In a movement too fast for any of the genin to catch, he had the girl pinned to ground without even an inch of leverage. She wouldn't be getting out of this, no matter how flexible.

"All of you are just brats," Kakashi continued calmly. "Are you trying to make fun of the shinobi with your behavior? Did you wonder even for a moment what the point of this exercise was?"

"It's to see who's good enough to be a genin!" Kiba growled, eyes flicking from the jounin to the girl. "You told us that!"

"Yes, I did. This was a test, like I said. But what do you think I was testing you for? Your ninjutsu? Your taijutsu? All those things were already tested in the Academy. That's how your rankings were assigned."

"So then what? Just tell us already!" Dog boy was bristling, shaking with the tension.

Kakashi sighed, in the back of his mind. "It's teamwork." That shut them up. All three were silent and still. "If the three of you had come at me together, you might have been able to take the bells."

"But there's only two!"

Ah, the inevitable complaint.

"Of course. This task was designed to divide you. The whole point was to see which of you would set aside your personal interests for the sake of the group. Instead…"

He turned to dog boy first. "… You, Kiba, took the easy way, charging into the task and getting the help of the teammate you found more tolerable and cooperative instead of considering the bigger picture."

Next, the girl. "… You, Kizuna, didn't follow up on the discrepancies you noticed, rendering those observations meaningless."

And finally, "You, Sasuke, didn't even try to work with the others, already judging them to be excess baggage."

Uzumaki looked appropriately chastised. No doubt kicking herself for not connecting the dots sooner. Inuzuka scowled, anger and annoyance bubbling underneath. And Sasuke… he looked more angry than anything.

Was he getting through to these kids at all?

"You're a team! Act like one! Yes, it's necessary for ninja to have individual skills, but what is even more important now is teamwork!"

No, they weren't listening. The girl might get it. Maybe, if only because he was pretty much sitting on her. But the boys… Dog boy was thinking 'Teamwork with him? I draw the line at arrogant bastards.' And Sasuke… well, teamwork just didn't fit into his view of things.

"Acting as an individual is bad for the team and exposes your comrades to unnecessary danger. You might as well kill them yourself." Time for drastic measures. "For example… Kiba! Kill Sasuke! Or Kizuna dies." For a moment, looking at the glinting kunai in his hand, they actually believed him.

Well, that was all he could do.

"The day could come when one of you may be taken hostage, and you're forced to make such a choice. Even if your individual performance is perfect, you may end up loosing a teammate during a mission."

Walking to the memorial, Kakashi traced the familiar names in his mind. He was getting off topic. This was about working together not about accepting loss… they'd get to that part later, maybe, if he passed them anyway.

"Look at this marker. All the names carved in the stone are heroes of our village. Ninja. All of them… died in the line of duty." Already, Kakashi had a feeling that this would mean nothing to them. Inuzuka was uncomfortable, but his entire family was shinobi. His life was shinobi. Uzumaki's stare was heavy, but she was too set in her goal to stop. And Sasuke… didn't really care, did he?

But he had to say the next part. "This memorial… includes the names of my closest friends." Turning around, Kakashi studied the three stupid brats. Kizuna had paled suddenly, seeing something only her mind knew. Kiba swallowed heavily, looking away. And Sasuke… had the oddest expression…

Maybe he was getting through to them after all, Kakashi thought.

"…Pay attention… I'm giving you one last chance. This'll be far more difficult that our last little game with the bells. You may eat one of the bento boxes, but no sharing with Sasuke, since he fell shortest of the goal." Neither Inuzuka nor Uzumaki looked terribly upset at that, and Kakashi felt any hope for them begin to slip away. "If either of you feeds him, you fail the test right there. My word is law. Do you understand?"

Without waiting for response, the jounin 'disappeared,' relocating to the nearest clump of trees. On whim, he turned around to watch them.

Sasuke was pointedly ignoring the other two as they settled down with their lunch. Kiba set his on the ground, letting Akamaru share his food. Kizuna watched him for a moment.

"Oi, Inuzuka!" she called abruptly, and her teammated turned to her in surprise. "Give me your chopsticks."

"What? Why?"

"It's not like you need them," she reasoned, reaching into her weapons pouch. "And Uchiha's using mine since I haven't gotten them all slobbery yet."

With a short flick of her kunai, the ropes tying Sasuke to the stump fell away. Kiba stared while the girl waved her lunch in Sasuke's general direction.

"We'll split it half and half, so all the members'll get the same amount," she explained.

Akamaru barked in agreement.

"But what about…" Kiba gestured vaguely, apparently unable to form a complete sentence.

"Oh, him." Kizuna shrugged. "Whatever. All this underneath the underneath stuff's giving me a headache. In any case, I've weighed the pros and cons, you know. Uchiha's fan club already hates me, and it'll be nice to see their expressions when I tell them I had lunch with their precious Sasuke-kun." She grinned maliciously, looking sideways at the young heartthrob as he slid onto the ground next to her. "And besides, now I can say Uchiha owes me."

It wasn't what he would have hoped for, but it was better than nothing.

-  
-

end chapter the first

Bio Note 1: Kizuna (read key-z-nah) means "bond between people." Personally I think it's a much better choice than Naruko or something. Naruto is actually a type of fish cracker (I think) added to ramen, so changing only one syllable makes the name meaningless.

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Oh yuck. I don't know anything about Kiba… But I didn't know who else to use. Naruto, Kiba, Chouji and Shikamaru were apparently the idiots of their class, but Kizuna is a kunoichi, so she's ranked differently, and Chouji and Shikamaru have to go with Ino into Team Eight because of their parents.

So yeah, Kiba's going to suffer. But I was too lazy to download his fight with Sakon/Ukon (the freaky Sound guy/girl whatever his/her name is) or to look up his fight with Naruto again, so I just… winged his fighting. I'm really no good at fighting.

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Next Chapter: First mission… Babysitting! The boy with the lucky name!

Konohamaru, Sandaime, Kiba's older sister (what's her name, can anyone tell me?), and maybe Hinata.

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-


	3. Side Story 2: Konohamaru

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KIZUNA

Side Story 2: Konohamaru

(This is an old chapter that I'm keeping for archive purposes. You can skip it. Chronologically, it would be before the "Introduction" chapter but after "Side Story 1")

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Although his team (and they were _his_ now) had passed at exactly 12:36:48, the four of them only made it to the Hokage tower in late afternoon. Part of the delay had been caused by the necessary introductory lecture of "you're full-fledged genin now, so be ready to do your job." Part of it was because they had walked, in the civilian way, from the fairly distant training ground.

Glancing at his team (and somehow, it sounded a little better every time he thought it), Kakashi studied the genins' expressions. Sasuke looked as stoic as ever, maybe a little dirty around the edges, but mostly unaffected. Even after using Goukakyuu, he wasn't anywhere near exhausted.

Uzumaki had physically fought the least, and having read her file, Kakashi knew the girl recovered at an incredible rate. Walking with her teammates and instructor, Kizuna hummed cheerfully. Her expression was faraway though, as if she was thinking of something else entirely.

Inuzuka was definitely the most ground down of his team, but by the end of the walk, he no longer looked completely exhausted. He and Akamaru both appeared tired but content.

Well, it was encouraging, and certainly far better than Kakashi had expected.

A young woman was waiting in front of Konoha's administrative center, her large dog and face markings giving her away as an Inuzuka. Kiba started in surprise at the sight before breaking away from the team to jog toward her.

"Hana-nee-chan? What're you doing here?" he asked, stopping in front of the young woman. She glanced somewhat warily between her younger brother (Kakashi recognized her now, Inuzuka Hana, older sister of Inuzuka Kiba) and his instructor.

"Did you pass?" she asked instead of answering.

Kiba grinned, immediately perking up. "Hell, yeah! We totally… Hey, how do you know about that?" he stopped in mid-exclamation to peer suspiciously at his sister.

"It's tradition. I had to pass a test from my jounin instructor as well," she explained calmly. At dog boy's offended-sulky look, she sighed, "We're not supposed to tell the new graduates. It's a surprise. No one told me either."

Turning toward Kakashi, the young woman nodded respectfully. "I hope my brother didn't cause any problems for you. Please take good care of him." Kakashi nodded in reply, seeing no need to say anything. "Do you need him for anything else? Then, we will take our leave of you. Good evening."

With another half-bow, she turned to go, slinging an arm over her brother's shoulder and squeezing slightly in a half-hug. Even as the duo moved away, swaying slightly to maintain the odd position, Hana's dog following calmly, Kakashi could hear her telling Kiba excitedly, "Mom and Dad just got back, and they invited the whole family to celebrate. You're a shinobi now, little brother!"

Turning back to his students (it was nice to remind himself that they were still his even if not completely), Kakashi sighed. "Alright, you're free to go. Meet me here at eight tomorrow morning for our first mission."

Sasuke left without another word, and Kakashi headed into the building to file their acceptance as his team. If there was one thing he wasn't looking forward to, it was the paperwork he'd have to file constantly as captain of the squad. This time, at the least, things weren't too bad. Frankly, he had a feeling that everyone would go out of their way to make sure he didn't have too much trouble with the first team he'd ever passed, especially since it included Uchiha Sasuke.

After signing a form (and only that, since someone had generously filled out everything else), Kakashi nodded to Asuna, who had passed his Team Ten automatically, but had been cursing over the registration forms for the last three hours, and Kurenai, who arrived a few minutes after him, having put her team through a grueling two-hour assessment, and headed out by the same way he had entered.

It was probably a good thing he did, instead of just translocating in a cloud of smoke, because Uzumaki was still standing just outside the tower, waiting for him, apparently. Kakashi waved cheerily to the girl, noting her odd expression.

"Kakashi-sensei," she began with an oddly determined glint in her eyes, "You said that only three teams would pass, right? So, do you know, which other two…"

Ah.

"Teams Eight and Ten," Kakashi replied shortly. Kizuna brightened at the first one, but looked somewhat resigned to the second. Hm…

Grinning the girl bowed and thanked him before taking off.

So, was whom she interested in? And, why?

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Even though she was exhausted, even though her muscles protested even the smallest movement, Hinata threw herself at the practice dummy with more determination than ever. Everything seemed so simple when she let herself flow with the Jyuuken, all worries and conflicts washed away by the perfect, unplanned sequence of movement.

Once again, her feelings were so conflicted… She was both elated and… bitterly disappointed. She, the failed heir, was now a genin, under the supervision of a jounin instructor. She had passed the test. But… maybe, she hadn't passed on the basis of her skills.

Kurenai-sensei pitied her. Hinata could see it in the kunoichi's eyes. After what the jounin had seen when she first escorted Hinata to the Academy, Kurenai could guess what Hinata's life was like and she pitied the Hyuuga girl for it. And maybe, she had only passed Hinata because of that pity, to spare her the shame of returning to the Academy.

Hinata knew that she had done far worse than her teammates in Kurenai-sensei's assessment test. Her endurance was worse than either of the boys', her chakra control was certainly far worse than Haruno-kun's, she had far less mastery of her family techniques than Aburame-kun.

Engrossed in her training and her thoughts, Hinata completely missed the arrival of another person until they called her name.

With a short squeak, Hinata spun around, hands clutched to her chest, eyes wide. Seeing just who it was, she suddenly wished she'd chosen a training ground different from her usual. Maybe then, Kizuna wouldn't have found her so easily.

Kizuna's smile was crooked and warm, the late afternoon sun giving her short hair a glowing orange hew.

"Hey," the blonde greeted softly, "sorry to scare ya. I heard you passed. Congratulations."

Hinata ducked her head, blushing furiously but also relaxing, if somewhat involuntarily. This was so nice, so familiar… She glanced up shyly as Kizuna moved to stand next to her. Without any words, they sat down together, backs against the dummy's base.

Suddenly, a horrifying idea crossed Hinata's mind and she stiffened. What if… Certainly, Kizuna wouldn't act so calm and kind if she… But then, Kizuna didn't always show what she felt…

"You-you passed, r-right, Kizna-kun?" Hinata asked, turning to the other girl with wide eyes.

"Yeah," the blonde replied easily, wiggling against the wood in an effort to find a more comfortable position. Her smile was almost smug now and content. "We passed." A slow, toothy grin.

Hinata felt odd, hearing that. For the longest time, Kizuna had only said 'we' when talking about herself and Hinata. To hear the other girl use it in reference to someone else…

But, she didn't have any right to feel jealous. Not when Kizuna was so much more than she deserved.

"I'm glad you did too," the other girl continued, breathing deeply. She seemed to be settling down for a nap, almost like cat.

Listening to Kizuna's even breathing, Hinata clenched her hands tightly. It seemed like Kizuna didn't care, but she had to be certain. She just wouldn't be able to bear it if this hung between them. And…and…

"You're not mad," Hinata blurted out, "r-right?"

Kizuna didn't move, her sudden stillness unsettling. A single blue eye slid open to look at the dark haired girl. Hinata gulped, physically wilting under the tension. She _had_ to continue, she owed it to Kizuna to at least be honest…

"A-about me being o-on the same team as H-haruno-kun…"

"Hm…" Kizuna drew out slowly, closing her eyes again and sighing. "Nah… It's not your fault, you know."

The tension drained out of Hinata like a relieved sigh. If Kizuna said it like that, in that sure voice that was without doubt, then it was definitely true. No matter what.

"Besides…" the blonde continued, shifting closer until their shoulders touched, "Even though I like Touka-kun… If I ever had to chose between Touka-kun and Hinata-chan, who is my first, most precious friend… I would always choose you."

Hinata was staring, had been staring for a while, but somehow, she just couldn't bring herself to look away. The blonde was waiting, her eyes closed, a subtle tension in her form but also a complete sense of certainty and peace... Every word Kizna said, in that sure voice, was absolutely, completely true… Warmth spread across Hinata's cheeks, and slowly seeped through the place where their shoulders touched.

Smiling softly, Hinata shifted a little closer to her friend. Friend…

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Kakashi was four hours late the next morning. The jounin felt almost guilty; this was actually almost twice as long as he usually made anyone wait, and his team was new to his habits. But… well, they'd have to get used to it at some point.

Obviously, the genin didn't see it that way. Dog boy yelled at an almost glass-shattering volume, and Uzumaki chucked not one but three kunai toward his vitals with unerring accuracy. Sasuke said and did nothing, but his expression was borderline contempt.

Kakashi's excuse ("I had to save three little mice from drowning…") did nothing to pacify his team, and Kiba continued to yell as they moved through the Hokage tower to the mission room. The hallways were crowded as always, but the masses of rushing people parted easily in order to get away from the ear-splitting noise. Of course, Uzumaki's continued efforts to fill her instructor with sharp, pointy objects didn't help their team appear any more sane.

The mission room (or at least the only public one) was about the same as Kakashi remembered. It had been years since he'd last been here, since only chuunins and genins received assignments here, but things hadn't changed much. A large open place, with a table in three sections against the window. The section at one end was for placing mission request, while the other end was for payments and the delivery of mission results.

In the center, shuffling through stacks of paper, sat the Hokage. As they entered, old man Sandaime peered at them over his glasses. He didn't look surprised, only sighed and shuffled through a stack of papers.

"You're a bit late." _Later than expected even._ "There aren't many missions left, this soon after graduation-" "What!" Uzumaki and Inuzuka snarled. "-but I have a mission I'd been saving."

Oh, this couldn't be good. 'Saving' was polite for 'no one else would take it, so you poor sods are stuck with it.'

"What is it? What?" Kiba asked, leaning forward in anticipation. Uzumaki mirrored the movement.

"Your mission is D rank, so it is neither dangerous nor exciting, but these tasks must be performed and are an important source of income for the village." Kakashi could tell from their expressions that none of the genin knew just what D rank missions were really like. They were in for bad disappointment. "This particular mission involves-"

Abruptly, the door burst open to admit a cloud of smoke and… a scrawny brat. "Alright, Gramps! This time I'll-" he yelled, before promptly tripping on the end of his long blue scarf.

Kakashi sighed quietly, not surprised by the less-than-subtle entrance. He'd heard the boy scuttling around outside the door.

The brat jumped to his feet and glared around, trying to recover some shred of dignity (not that he had any in the first place). Inuzuka burst out laughing, while Sasuke looked more annoyed and condescending than usual. Uzumaki just looked vaguely disbelieving.

"Hey, you tripped me!" the brat accused, pointing a finger at the blonde, who was standing nearest to the door.

Uzumaki bristled, although the effect was somewhat less impressive than in dog boy, since her short silky hair refused to do more than flutter dramatically. "What!" she yelled, stalking toward the boy. "You tripped yourself, idiot!"

A hollow thump echoed through the suddenly still room as Kizuna nailed the brat across the head. The Hokage sighed wearily and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"Team Seven, this is my grandson, Konohamaru. His tutor broke his leg yesterday and will be unable to watch him. Your mission is to look after my grandson for the next week, until his tutor is able to return to his duties," Sandaime explained, closing his eyes against the inevitable outburst(s).

"We have to _baby-sit_?" Inuzuka and Uzumaki protested.

"I don't need 'em!" Konohamaru declared.

"_Your mission_," the Hokage continued, "is to keep Konohamaru out of trouble and make sure he eats and sleeps regularly. It's a simple D rank mission, but until you prove yourselves capable of handling such assignments, you will not be given anything more challenging."

And that was that.

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Kakashi was happy note that his team followed him with only marginal grumbling when he motioned for them to leave the mission room. Konohamaru began to yell something, but Kizuna grabbed the end of his scarf and dragged him out unceremonially.

Pausing just outside the Hokage Tower, Kakashi studied his students. Kiba was still muttering, Sasuke had returned to default stoic, Kizuna was grinding her teeth, yanking at Konohamaru's scarf whenever the brat started to complain.

"So," she began loudly, throwing her instructor an accusing look, "how are we gonna do this thing?"

"Well…" the jounin drawled, "kids his age should sleep for about nine hours, so we'll allot ten hours to resting, from twenty-one to seven. Also, three meals: breakfast around eight, lunch around thirteen and dinner at eighteen. You'll watch him in three shifts, morning from six till fourteen, afternoon from fourteen to twenty-two, and night from twenty-two to six."

From here on out, they'd plan their own missions, but Kakashi had a feeling that nothing would get done if he let the genin handle it this time. Well, it was their first mission, so he'd give them a break.

"Now, who'll take what shift?"

"I'm taking night shift," Sasuke said flatly. Kiba started to protest, loudly, only to receive a look that promised death. That, in turn, seemed to offend dog boy even further and he stalked up to his teammate, growling.

"Hey, hey, I want afternoon," Uzumaki told Kakashi, pointedly ignoring the other two. "I guess I'll start now, since it's already almost one. What're we feeding him anyway?" she asked, jerking a thumb in their charge's direction.

"You hag!-" Konohamaru began, only to gag as Kizuna gave his scarf an especially vicious pull. Kakashi rubbed his chin, appearing thoughtful, but actually watching his other two students display a here-to unseen rivalry. While Uzumaki had been talking, Kiba and Sasuke had degenerated into a minor war, Kiba apparently going for the eyes with his latest lunge, Sasuke flashing through the seals for Goukakyuu. The passing residents gave them a wide berth.

"You're awfully decisive," he commented. "But I guess the meals will be up to you. There should be a cook at the house, but if you want to take him out, that's okay too. The Hokage should pick up the tab."

Kizuna grinned widely at the last comment and waved a fist in celebration. Remembering Kakashi's mildly questioning tone, she shrugged. "We had survival and guard training in Academy, with rotating shifts and stuff. I really hated staying up all night. Screws up my internal clock. And I hate early mornings even more. Besides, I get free food." She grinned widely. Kakashi let his eye close into a happy crescent. "Well, see ya."

Waving cheerily, she started off. Konohamaru tried to dig in his heels, but Kizuna's physical strength ratings, if Kakashi remembered correctly, were some of the highest in her class, male and female. Dragging the boy along, she yelled a short encouragement to Kiba, who was directing Akamaru in a Dynamic Air Marking.

Sighing, Kakashi prepared to separate his two male students. After all, it wouldn't look good if Sasuke fried dog boy and gutted the dog.

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"Hey!" Kizuna called cheerfully, pushing aside the hangings as she ducked into Ichiraku's.

"Hello, Kizna-chan! You're a bit early today, but Father's already started the noodles…" Ayame trailed off, blinking in surprise at the boy they favorite customer dragged in after her. Then, recognizing him, the young woman paled and bowed quickly. "Honored grandson!"

Kizuna gave her a blank look, taking a seat and pulling Konohamaru onto the stool next to her. "Hm? You okay?" Following the young woman's gaze, Kizuna raised an eyebrow. "Him? Something weird about the brat?"

"Kizna-chan!" Ayame exclaimed, horrified. "Please be a little more respectful! He's Sandiame-sama's grandson!"

"Yeah!" Konohamaru exclaimed. "Bet you're sorry for treating me like than now! Go ahead and try hitting me again, I dare you!"

Kizuna regarded him blankly for a moment. "Ch," she exclaimed, scowling, and nailed him across the head again. Ayame squeaked and brought her hands up to cover her mouth. "As if I care about that! I already knew, stupid. Did you miss the part where the old man explained it? Too busy tripping over your own two feet?"

The blonde rolled her eyes in exasperation. About to continue, she blinked and paused. Konohamaru was staring at her with a shocked and vaguely awed expression. Feeling non-pulsed, Kizuna had to think for a moment to find her train of thought.

"Right… well, anyway, just pick something to… eat…" He was still staring. She sweatdropped and scratched the back of her head. "Well, right…" Turning back to Ayame, the kunoichi forced herself back on topic. "Alright, one pork ramen for him, and the usual for me. And… the Hokage is supposed to cover the expenses." Thinking about that, she grinned. "He's my free meal ticket!"

Ayame laughed nervously and bowed before hurrying to relay the order.

For several minutes, an uneasy silence prevailed between the two customers. Ayame didn't return, and Konohamaru just kept staring… Kizuna could almost hear her nerves fraying, snapping apart like the individual wires in a steel cable. When Teuchi set the bowls on the counter with a clink, she jumped.

"Itadakimasu!" she exclaimed just a little too loudly. Glancing sideways at Konohamaru, the blonde twitched. "Hey!" The brat jumped, finally blinking. "Eat your food! Don't even think about wasting good ramen!"

"Shuddap, you hag! When I become Hokage, I'll make you pay for treating me like this!" he yelled. Kizuna hit him again.

"Yeah? Well, not if I become Hokage first!"

"You! You're a girl!"

"So? A girl can be just as good a Hokage as a boy! I can be just as good a ninja as if I was a boy! Just as good a ninja as anyone else!"

Shit. She probably shouldn't have said that. Kizuna blinked, suddenly feeling her anger drain away. At some point, she'd grabbed the brat by the front of his scarf and pulled him in so they were only inches apart. Shit, shit, shit.

Scowling, she pushed him back onto his stool and picked up her chopsticks. "Just… just eat your food. Otherwise, you'll never be anywhere near strong enough to become Hokage."

After a few moments, he did as she said.

-  
-

By the time they finished their ramen (Konohamaru had been converted to the ramen-cult and ate almost as many bowls as she did), both of them had cheered up considerably. It was still early in the afternoon, not even two.

"So, what're you gonna do?" Kizuna asked as they exited Ichiraku.

"Dunno," Konohamaru shrugged, looking away with a sulky expression.

"Well," she tried again, gritting her teeth, "what do you usually do?"

"Play pranks! Bet you're scared now, huh?" Konohamaru leered at her, grinning. "I'm gonna prank you so bad!"

He blinked in surprised as Kizna started to snicker, then burst out laughing. Just as she seemed to be calming down, the kunoichi would glance at the boy walking next to her and start again. Finally, her laughter slowed to the occasional chuckle.

"Scared?... hah… I'm not scared, as… hehe… if. I know way more about pranking… eheh… than you," she told him, grinning widely.

"O-oh yeah! I'll show you!" Waving a fist in her direction, Konohamaru tried to jump away and run off, only to gag and stumble as Kizuna grabbed the end of his scarf. Watching him face-plant into the pavement, she started laughing again.

"Maybe tomorrow," the kunoichi told him, grinning. "Let's head to your house for now. Where to do you live anyway?"

A sharp tug on his scarf let Konohamaru know she wasn't really asking.

As they walked through the village, toward one of the wealthier residential districts, Kizuna could feel the weight of far too many stares. They were muttering quietly, but she could hear them anyway. 'It's her…' 'She's got some nerve, to just walk around like that…' 'What's someone like her doing with the honorable grandson?..'

Clenching her fists, the kunoichi told herself to just keep walking. She was on a mission. It wouldn't be any good to get distracted. Pretty soon, Konohamaru began to glance at her questioningly. The brat was probably wondering why his babysitter was getting so upset. After all, being stared at was nothing new to him, and his hearing wasn't sharp enough to pick up just what the villagers were whispering about.

Swallowing, the boy pointed to a large building bordering a T-intersection. "It's j-just over there," he muttered, stuttering slightly. The blonde's expression was so dark… Glancing at him, Kizuna forced herself to shove the anger away and nodded.

The mansion was an old, traditional affair, solemn and empty. The cook had already gone home, Konohamaru explained. The old woman came in every morning to make breakfast, lunch and dinner and to clean up any leftovers. The cleaning staff came in on the weekends.

"So what do you do besides playing pranks?" Kizuna asked, draping herself over a couch so that her legs rested against the back and her head was hanging upside-down near the ground.

Konohamaru shrugged, settling into an armchair. "Four-eyes – my tutor – usually makes me study all this boring stuff all day, but I always try to sneak off to train. I even got a few real shuriken to practice with. I sneak up on Gramps too, like today."

"You always trip?" Kizuna asked, snickering again. Her head shook slightly, making her hair sway.

"Shuddap!" the younger boy yelled, flushing. "Someday, I'll beat Gramps and take the Hokage title from him, you see!"

The kunoichi raised her eyebrows in silent doubt before voicing her thoughts. "You really think it's that easy? The Hokage isn't just a name, you know. It's not a title you're born to. The Hokage's the leader of our Hidden Village, the strongest and most respected ninja. You'll never make it if you don't work every step of the way."

"Oh yeah? You think you'll do better than me!" Konohamaru retaliated, jumping to his feet. "You're just a violent girl! What makes you so special?"

The blonde's eyes narrowed, and when she spoke her tone was icy. "Oh, so it's about being 'special' now, is it? You think you have a better chance of becoming Hokage just because you're the Third's grandson, is that it?" She flipped onto her feet, never breaking eye contact. "You're just a spoiled brat!"

"What do you know anyway! I'll make everyone acknowledge me and see me for _me_!" the younger boy yelled, clenching his fists.

The two stood glaring at each other silently until Konohamaru spun around and stormed off. Forgetting her mission for a moment, Kizuna just scowled at his retreating figure. Only when the sound of slamming door echoed through the house did she remember that she was supposed to be watching the brat and keeping him out of trouble.

"Hey!" the kunoichi yelled, running after him and pounding on the door. "Open the damn door! I'm supposed to be watching you!"

"As if I care, stupid!" came a voice only slightly muffled by the door.

"Fine!"

"FINE!"

Growling, Kizuna shook violently and kicked the offending door, which rattled menacingly but remained intact.

"Fine," she muttered to herself, pulling out a string of wire and a few kunai. If he wanted to stay in there so much, then she'd let him. Jamming a door shut was child's play for her, Kizuna thought, resisting the urge to add a few explosive tags and a trap or two.

Satisfied with her work, she dashed outside, following the perimeter of the building until she found the window that belonged to Konohamaru's room. Peering inside, she could see the brat sulking in a corner, arms crossed, eyes screwed shut. Window was closed, and she made short work of jamming it too.

Moving back inside, she took up her post next to the door, waiting for the inevitable outburst.

-  
-

By the time Uchiha made his appearance at exactly ten p.m., Kizuna and Konohamaru had argue five more times and had gotten into two short scuffles, first when the kunoichi dragged the boy out of his room for dinner and then again when she forced him back in for bed. Everything had been silent since he gone 'to sleep,' but Kizuna was more than a little wary.

She offered Uchiha a small smile, which he didn't return as he stood on the other side of the door.

"I locked the window from the outside," Kizuna offered, trying to think of something to say to her teammate. "So he shouldn't be getting out that way."

"I noticed," Uchiha replied flatly, almost without emotion. Somehow, though, his statement seemed annoyingly arrogant. Kizuna grit her teeth and chanted, 'teammates, teammates…'

"You shouldn't have any problems, since I think he'll fall asleep pretty soon. I think I might have worn the brat out," she admitted, rubbing the back of her head.

The number one rookie of the year tilted his head slightly and looked at her coldly. "I will not 'have problems.' I'm not you."

"You don't have to be such a jerk, you know," the blonde hissed, spinning around to glare at him. "We're teammates, and it'll be much easier for everyone if we at least tolerate each other."

Uchiha said nothing, staring fixedly straight ahead. For a moment, she was ready to just fight the bastard into acknowledging her. He'd be more agreeable with a few new bruises and a kunai wound or two.

But then, she remembered just where they were and what they were doing. There was a little brat on the other side of the door, and this was a mission.

Kizuna spun around and marched away.

-  
-

Kiba cursed all things holy as he watched the Sandaime's brat of a grandson eat breakfast. He'd barely made it in time to take over for Uchiha at six, and the other genin had only given him a condescending look before leaving. An hour later, Kiba had been stumped over just how one went about wakening up the grandchild of the most powerful shinobi in the Leaf.

He'd finally settled for knocking on the door, but there was no answer. Calling hadn't done any good either, so the only thing left was to go in… As soon as he opened the door, a bucket of sand crashed down on his head. Knocking it off and spitting out a mouthful of grains, Kiba had glared at the brat that was rolling around, laughing uproariously.

His first reaction was to pounce on the little monster and teach him just why you didn't mess with people bigger and stronger than you. But before the dog user could execute this course of action, his common sense came crashing down. 'He's the Sandaime's honored grandson! Don't you dare!' it screamed.

Shaking, Kiba had forced out between clenched teeth, "Glad to see you're up. Time for breakfast."

The brat had snickered as he gathered himself and trudged past Kiba into the kitchen, where the elderly cook had given him a simpering smile and asked if there was anything specific he wanted that day.

Konohamaru had shrugged and said nothing.

Apparently, the cook hadn't expected an answer because she had already been more than half-way through preparing all three meals for the day. In a matter of minutes, she set a banquet-sized meal before the brat.

Kiba stared. Noticing, the little monster smirked. "Want some? I could spare a little for a doggy bag…"

As soon as this was over, he was going to _tear the little brat apart…_

The cook left shortly afterward, having finished a bento for lunch and an even larger meal for dinner. After eating his fill, Konohamaru simply wandered off, toward the door, not even bothering to clean anything up.

"Hey," Kiba protested, frowning, "shouldn't you do something about this?" He gestured toward the table, covered with mostly-full dishes.

The brat looked over his shoulder, his expression condescending. "Why, you hungry? Go ahead, I don't mind sharing the leftovers with the animals."

Kiba almost did lunge for his throat then, but the brat had gone out the door before the genin had a chance.

The rest of the morning passed slowly, without consequence. Konohamaru met up with two other little brats, a girl and a boy, and the three of them wandered around town, playing short, pointless games. Kiba hung back, watching the brats, but trying to keep out of their immediate area. He just didn't trust himself not to do something stupid, and messy, to the spoiled little monster.

The real surprise came at just before one, when Kizuna jogged up to him, waving cheerfully. Her sort hair was ruffled and a little damp, and her clothes were dirty and a little frayed in some places. She looked like she'd just been training, Kiba thought.

"Hey, hey! Inuzuka! How's it going?" the blonde asked, stopping next to him and taking a few deep breaths.

Kiba scowled and rolled his eyes. "Horrible. He's a little monster, stuck-up and snotty. How the hell did you deal with him all afternoon yesterday?"

"Eh?" She looked slightly embarrassed for a moment. "Mostly… I kinda locked him in his room." He gave her a disbelieving look. Laughing nervously and reaching up to scratch the back of her head, Kizuna quickly changed the subject. "So, it's about lunch time, right? Mind if I tag along? Free food and all…"

"You're smooching off Hokage-sama's honored grandson?"

"Um… yeah, more or less… Anyway, let's go!"

Kiba watched in absolute disbelief as she marched off quickly, hailing the little monster. Konohamaru started to complain, his expression rebellious. Reaching out, the kunoichi grabbed the end of his scarf and began to pull him along.

"Hey! Inuzuka! You coming?" Kizuna called over her shoulder, completely ignoring the brat's protests.

'Come to think of it, she was man-handling him yesterday too, and Hokage-sama said nothing,' Kiba thought, jogging to catch up. Suddenly, things were looking up.

Kizuna, he decided, was pretty damn cool.

-  
-

They fell into something of a pattern after that. Uchiha took his shift silently and ignored anyone who tried to talk to him. Konohamaru tried to sneak out once, in the middle of the night, but one hell-freezing look from the number one rookie of the year sent him scurrying back into his room.

Kiba took over in the mornings, grumbling all the way. He didn't hesitate to barge in when it was time for the brat to get up, but he'd learned to check for traps. In fact, both he and Kizuna began to develop that special sixth sense that tells you to check where you're stepping because there's something that's about to come down on your head.

The cook always made far too much food, so the dog user didn't bother to have breakfast before leaving to take over and instead ate with Konohamaru, who stopped making remarks about doggy bags after Kiba dumped a glass of orange juice on his head.

Also, the old woman inevitably made lunch even though it remained uneaten everyday.

Kizuna would always show up just in time for the second meal of the day, somewhat dirty and scuffed from training all morning. The three of them (or sometimes five, if Konohamaru's friends came along) had lunch at Ichiraku's, after which the two genin had a few practice bouts. The three brats watched in fascination. They were set to start the academy after the break between school years was over, so, to them, even low-level genin were incredible.

Kiba grudgingly admitted that Kizuna hit very, very hard.

It was after the fourth day's third fight, an all-out affair using both ninjutsu and live weapons, that they first lost track of their charges.

"I'm just saying that it's not a good idea to rely on something like that," Kizuna commented, rolling one shoulder as she stretched lazily.

Kiba rolled his eyes. "It's just a soldier pill. It helps me and Akamaru get the boost we need for the Juujin Bunshin, that's all. You're acting like I can't fight without it or something."

Of course, the backlash was kind of nasty, and he just couldn't find the energy to do much of anything, even stand. Akamaru was about the same, sprawled on top of his head, tongue lolling out in exhaustion. Sitting propped up against a tree trunk, which had been broken in half when Kizuna missed a hit, Kiba concentrated on getting back some of his strength and mused that the blonde was certainly different from most kunoichi.

Although the kunoichi training showed in her love for pointy weapons and sharp aim, Kizuna was far more fond of hand-to-hand taijutsu than any girl Kina had ever met. Even his sister preferred to use ninjutsu in combat…

"Yeah, that's all, but look at you afterward. If we'd kept on fighting, I would've won just because I can still stand." Oh, he'd been hoping she wouldn't pick up on that.

"Yeah, well, that's just because you have a freakish amount of stamina," he countered.

Kizuna snorted and shook her head. "Crutches like that are no good. If a move leaves you helpless afterward, you haven't mastered it. Either that, or it's a shitty move. If you haven't mastered it, you shouldn't use it until you do 'cause a ninja needs to be reliable, not depending on things that are incomplete and might fail. If it's no good, you shouldn't use it because it'll kill you faster than your opponent will."

Kiba gave her a blank look. "When'd you get all philosophical? Geez, I thought you were a 'hit it with all you got until it dies' kinda person, like me."

"I am," the kunoichi said, grinning widely. Her expression turned a little more serious, but also pouty. "It's just that… I did go through all that training, you know…" Walking over to where Kba was sitting, she plopped down next to him.

"Kunoichi train differently than shinobi, you know. Everybody's always talking about how you've got make everything count, drilling it into us… Perfect control, perfect aim, perfect timing…" Kizuna made a face sticking out her tongue.

"Really?" Kiba asked, raising an eyebrow. He knew that girls trained separately from boys for the first several years after entering the Academy, but he'd never really wondered why.

"Yeah." The blonde looked annoyed, leaning back and scowling. "It's 'cause boys usually have more stamina than girls. So boys train physically – like running laps and stuff – and girls practice chakra control and weapons use… and useless junk like flower arrangement too."

He laughed at her expression at that last thought. Grinning, he was about to say something, but stopped seeing the odd look on his teammate's face.

"Kiba," she began slowly, "isn't it a little… too quiet?"

Indeed, everything was silent around the training area. Suddenly, he had a very bad feeling.

Slowly climbing to her feet, Kizuna looked around. "They're not here," she hissed. "Shit. Are you and Akamaru up to tracking them?"

He tried to climb to his feet, but only made it halfway before sliding back to the ground. Akamaru whined quietly, conveying that he wasn't up to anything, much less a mad hunt through the town.

Kizuna grimaced, and the dog used knew she'd just had her point proven in the most inconvenient way.

"Never mind. They can't have gotten very far." She glanced and him and smiled crookedly. "Note for next time, don't fight 'til exhaustion." And then she took off, leaping into the neighboring stand of trees.

Leaping from rooftop to rooftop, Kizuna cursed mentally and scanned the streets below. She was almost certain of where the brat would go, he'd as good as told her…

Damn, damn, damn. Letting her charge attack old man Hokage definitely didn't fit under "keeping him out of trouble." And as luck would have it, her watch had started five minutes ago...

Arriving at the Hokage tower, Kizuna leapt into an open window and ran down the corridor, toward Sandaime's office. Normally, this kind of behavior wasn't very smart, but the guards she knew were there (even if she couldn't see them) were used to genin doing stupid things and knew her anyway.

She had to give the brat credit. The trap wasn't half-bad. Ingenious use of wire, certainly, and though he was obviously too young to use real kunai, the paint can (with paint) was well placed. Apparently, this time he was going for the simple "walk into it" kind of prank.

Seeing her, Konohamaru rapped urgently on the door. To the kunoichi's horror, the Hokage answered almost immediately, and the door slid open slowly…

Pushing extra chakra toward her feet and pulling out a kunai, Kizuna lunged forward just as paint can tipped over, right above old man Sandaime's hat. Just as the paint was about to pour, she sliced through the wires and grabbed the entire can, flipping once and landing on the other side of the grandfather and grandson.

Most of the paint had remained inside (the joys of centrifuge), but some had been throw in the air by her heavy landing. Kizuna wavered for a moment, shifting the can desperately to catch the glob as it came falling down. As it joined the rest of the paint in the can, she spun around, hiding the entire thing behind her back.

Konohamaru's expression was disbelieving, while the Hokage just looked mildly surprised and questioning. The kunoichi laughed nervously and started forward, edging carefully to hide the paint can from her superior's view.

"We were just… ah… wondering if it would be alright if I…" Konohamaru started to say something, most likely to contradict her made-on-the-go lie, but Kizuna stepped on his foot and continued as if nothing had happened, "trained Konohamaru a bit," she finished.

At the sound of his name, the brat stopped hopping around and looked up, staring at her. Old man Sandaime raised his eyes brows, peering at them both over his glasses (had he been doing paperwork?). Kizuna gave him her best butter-wouldn't-melt-in-my-mouth smile.

"I don't see why not," the Hokage finally permitted. "It would probably be good for him not to get out of shape while Ebisu is in the hospital."

"That's great. Thanks a lot, old man," Kizuna replied, neatly cutting off the conversation. In the meantime, she'd managed to shift the bucket to one hand, freeing the other. Waving and turning to go, she grabbed the end of Konohamaru's scarf and marched away.

"I don't need _you_ to train me," the brat complained, after he finally figured out that if he wanted to say something without chocking, he'd have to walk next to her. "At least Four-eyes is a jounin. You're just a stupid genin."

Kizuna hit him with her free hand. "Who the hell's gonna train you, stupid? And for the record, if you try that again, I'm gonna let Akamaru use you as target practice for Dynamic Marking."

"Dynamic Making?"

"Yeah," she explained with her best flat expression, "like marking his territory. He's gonna pee on you."

"Eew!"

Things went pretty peacefully for the rest of the week.

-  
-

Even though the week was up, Kiba still came the next day to take his shift at six. Oddly enough, Uchiha, who had so far managed to avoid interacting with his teammates, remained where he had been standing by the brat's bedroom door. After staring at the other genin for a while in silent question, Kiba gave up and just waited. It was far too early to start a fight, even with holier-than-thou Uchiha.

At seven, the dog user got the brat, avoiding his trap with practiced ease and the three of them moved to the kitchen. Things went pretty normally from there, though Kiba was beginning to get seriously annoyed with Uchiha's silent but somehow still mocking presence.

Three hours later, Kakashi-sensei arrived, with Kizuna in tow.

"Good morning," the jounin greeted, waving lazily. Judging from Uchiha's snarl, he was late.

"So what now?" Kiba asked.

"Well, now we go to the Hokage tower to report a successful completion of our mission, pass off our charge to his tutor and file paperwork," Kakashi explained cheerfully.

"Four-eyes is outta the hospital already?" Konohamaru demanded, frowning, as they began their trek.

"Mm, yeah," Kakashi drawled, already engrossed in his book. Kizuna, who had fallen in step with Kiba, mouthed 'pervert.' The dog user snickered.

Watching their motley crew as they filed into his office, the Hokage looked like a man preparing to face a hard but necessary task. Next to the Sandaime's desk stood a non-descriptive man in a black one-piece suit, a black bandana-style hitai-ate and small, round black sunglasses.

The man adjusted his glasses and 'harumph'ed in an annoyed manner. "You're two hours, twenty-seven minutes, and thirty-five seconds late," he informed them.

"Really?" Kakashi drawled. "Looks like I'm a bit off. I was aiming for two and a half…"

Kizuna gave him a disbelieving look. "I knew those excuses were fake!" she declared, pointing at him. "You really do come late on purpose, don't you?"

Kakashi beamed, his single visible eye closing into an inverted crescent. Kiba stared, then snickered. Uchiha glared. The Hokage rubbed the bridge of his nose. The strange man looked horrified.

Cutting off any further protest from Kizuna (who looked ready to reach for her numerous projectile weapons), the Hokage cleared his throat. "This is Ebisu, Konohamaru's tutor. He is anxious to make up for lost time in my grandson's studies and will be taking Konohamaru off your hands. Please submit your complete mission report by tomorrow."

The "dismissed" was clearly implied.

Without waiting for them to leave, Ebisu approached his charge. "Come, honored grandson. It's time to continue your lessons."

That's where it all went down hill.

"No way!" the brat declared, crossing his arms and backing away. "I wanna stay with these guys!"

Above his sunglasses, Ebisu's eyebrow twitched. "Honored grandson, if you lower yourself to consorting with creatures of this sort, you will descend to their level! Only by following my teachings will you be able to become Hokage! Now, come!"

'Creatures of this sort!' Kiba growled, crouching lower. Who the hell did this guy think he was?

"NO! They're way better than you! At least they're not afraid to call me by my name!"

"I am part of the elite, one in a long and illustrious line of tutors who have prepared countless candidates for a possible future as the next Lord Hokage. Under my tutelage, your future as Lord Hokage is assured. That is the shortest path, Honored grand-"

"Shut up," Kizuna cut in, forcing the command out through clenched teeth. Surprised, Ebisu fell silent for a moment before opening his mouth in indignation. The kunoichi continued before he could say anything. "What the hell do you know about being Hokage anyway? Countless candidates… and not one of them up there!" She gestured toward the Hokage monument, just outside the window.

Ebisu sneered. "Oh? And as if something like you-"

'Something?" That pathetic piece of shit was going to pay for insulting his teammate, Kiba decided, stepping forward, but Kizuna cut in before he could anything.

"I can be just as good a shinobi as anyone else! And I have just as much chance to become Hokage as Konohamaru or anyone who's willing to make that commitment, anyone who's willing to fight for that dream! Don't you get it? There are no shortcuts, by birth or teaching! Anything you gain, you have to work for it!"

The tension in the room was palpable. Kizuna and Ebisu seemed to be at a standoff, both glaring at the other, neither willing to back down, and none of the others willing to interfere.

Abruptly, there was a sharp knock on the door, and a chuunin poked his head, peering over a stack of paperwork. "Hokage-sama, these forms require your signature, and they're quite urg..ent…" he trailed off, quailing under the combined pressure of several glares.

"Maa, maa, looks like it's time for us to get going…" Kakashi murmured, bowing slightly to the Hokage and heading for the door. Uchiha followed after throwing one last contemptuous look around the room. Kiba and Kizuna paused in the doorway, glaring at Ebisu before filing out.

Honestly, Kiba was infinitely glad to be done with that assignment.

-  
-

Kizuna watched with mild amusement and some disbelief as Ebisu blushed furiously and flirted with a young, pretty brunette.

What made the scene even more interesting was that she'd seen Konohamaru use Henge to transform into said young, pretty brunette just minutes before.

After a few more minutes of flirting loudly, explicitly and in plain view Konohamaru-turned-girl cheerfully tripped, crashed into Ebisu and, through a series of very creative maneuvers, ended up underneath the jounin in a very compromising position, with the jounin's hands in places they definitely shouldn't have been (on a young woman, in any case).

Then, Konohamaru-turned-girl screamed. Loudly, in a piercing voice. Her exact words? Just one actually. "Pervert!"

Ebisu jumped away like a scalded cat, blood gushing from his nose, which didn't help his strangled denials any. With a pop and a cloud of smoke, Konohamaru-turned-girl changed back to just Konohamaru.

Shaking with rage and embarrassment, Ebisu yelled something and lunged for the laughing boy. Konohamaru tried to evade, and the jounin only managed to grab hold of his scarf. With another puff of smoke, the scarf was no longer tied around Konohamaru, but around a log.

'Henge and Kawarimi, and he's not even Academy yet…' Kizuna mused, impressed in spite of herself as she discreetly followed Konohamaru's escape.

After a moment of incoherent spluttering, Ebisu followed, quickly determining which way his errant pupil had gone. It wasn't long before the brat was cornered, hiding behind a billboard.

"Come out immediately! You've crossed the line this time!" Ebisu called, still shaking with rage. "No pupil of mine will be allowed to get away with such a vulgar display, in full view of the public. Your punishment will be most sever, and trying to avoid it like this will only make it worse!"

Apparently, the usually more-bark-than-bite tutor was well and truly angry. He hadn't mentioned 'honored grandson' once the entire time. No doubt this new humiliation, on the same day as the open defiance in front of the Hokage, was too much for the image-conscious jounin.

Kizuna sighed. She kind of felt sorry for the brat. All that pressure to live up to expectations, being watched by someone for all hours of the day… Flashing through the seals of Henge, just to be certain, she jumped out from her own hiding place.

"Hey, Four-eyes!" 'Konohamaru' yelled. "You're pretty dumb, aren't you? Falling for the same trick twice…" She let the Henge drop away, putting one hand on her hip and tilting her head to the side in a blatantly challenging manner.

From her position, she could see Konohamaru where he was still hiding, now shocked stiff. Catching his eyes, she winked. Ebisu, who looked to be on the verge of rupturing something, took the gesture as another sigh of disrespect.

"YOU!" he bellowed. "You disgrace-"

"As if I haven't heard that one before!" she cut in. 'A thousand times…' "Now! Catch me if you can!"

And she was off.

-  
-

Kiba was startled out of his impromptu nap by the oddest noise. Someone was rapping on his window. Grumbling, he shifted and tried to ignore the noise. They persisted, knocking faster and harder. In retaliation, he pulled his pillow over his ears.

A moment later, there was a different sound – like a kunai cutting through metal, and a window sliding open.

"Alright, that's it! Who the hell's…" He trailed off, staring. "… breaking into my room. Kizuna?"

The blonde grinned and jumped off the window sill, sliding the window shut behind her. "Hi! Listen, I'm in a bit of trouble…"

Before she could elaborate (and Kiba really wanted to hear this one), a sharp knocking echoed through the house, this time originating at the front door. Footsteps, and then the door opening, his mother's voice conversing with a vaguely familiar stranger…

"Kiba!" his mother called, her voice easy penetrating his door. "Come here for a moment!"

Kizuna made desperate silencing motions, and the dog user rolled his eyes in response as he moved into the hallway, through the main room and into the entryway. His mother was standing in the doorway, waiting with… Ebisu?

Kiba raised an eyebrow as he approached the tutor, not bothering to hide his surprise and dislike. "Yeah? What is it?"

"Have you seen that-" Ebisu began, then stopped, twitching. Kiba mentally dared him to say something offensive. "That- that- Uzumaki," he finally ground out.

"Kizuna?" Kiba was quite proud of his mildly surprised, yet still disagreeable tone. "Not since we reported to the Hokage." 'And I haven't forgotten what you said,' hung clearly in the air. His mother was watching him, but she hadn't said anything yet. She'd always trust him over a stranger, even a jounin.

"I see. Very well. I apologize for the disturbance." Ebisu bowed and stiffly strode away. The Inuzuka matriarch watched his disappearing back for a moment before closing the door and turning to Kiba, arms crossed.

"Alright, Kiba, what's going on?" she asked with deceptive calm.

"That's what I'd like to know," he grumbled, walking back into the main room. Taking in the scene inside, Kiba did a double take.

Kizuna looked up from where she was making faces at Akamaru and Kuromaru.

"Is he gone?" she asked.

Shaking himself out of his stupor, Kiba scowled mildly and sat down on the floor next to her. "Why the hell did ya leave my room? And just what are you doing? No, better yet, what _did_ you do?"

"It was boring in there, and I wanted to hear how Four-eyes would explain why he was looking for me. And, actually, this time I didn't do anything," she said, grinning.

Kiba gave her a disbelieving look. The blonde pouted.

"No, really. I'm covering for Konohamaru. What he did was so totally awesome, I just had to help him out."

Her grin was borderline maniacal, so, after a moment of consideration, Kiba decided he probably didn't want to know. "Fine. So the only question is, what were you just doing with our dogs?"

"Hm? Well, they're both really nice. But since I can't understand them like you can," Kuromaru must have conveniently forgotten to mention that he could talk just fine, "I decided to try for creative expression. I think we managed to find the 'I'm an idiot' face and the 'I'm a few kunai short of a set' face and the 'I have the mental ability of a cat in heat' face…" Kizuna grin widened, taking on a more comical and slightly challenging edge.

Kuromaru snickered, an odd, quiet sound Kiba had only heard a few times in his life. Akamaru pretended to cover his head in embarrassment, muttering about 'shameless girls who knew just where to scratch.'

Kizuna laughed, climbing to her feet and stretching. "Okay, I think it's safe now. See ya at tomorrow, Kiba-kun." She waved and headed jogged back to his room, no doubt planning on exiting via the window.

Kiba stared after her, blinking. Kiba…kun? Huh… He shrugged and stood up.

-  
-

That night, dinner was a subdued affair, with only two of the human members of the household.

"Kiba…" Tsume began, watching her son, "that was… your teammate, wasn't it?" The word really didn't fit, but with the Sandaime's law in place, there was nothing else she could say.

"Yeah," he replied, looking up from his food, no doubt catching her odd tone. "Sorry I didn't get to introduce her, but Kizuna ran off pretty quickly. Maybe I'll bring her by some time."

'No, don't do that no matter what the circumstances,' she thought, but bit the words down.

"How is it, being on the same team with-" 'it' "-her?"

Kiba shrugged. "Pretty good. Better than being on the same team as Uchiha anyway." Her disbelief must have shown because he continued quickly, "I mean, I know he's the top graduate in our class-" that was something of a sore issue, since he himself was last, but he was still her son and test scores meant nothing out in the field, "-and he's the last of his clan, but he's just a complete jerk. He doesn't talk at all, even when I talk to him, and if he does, it makes me wish he'd kept his mouth shut. Everything he says is so arrogant…" Kiba scowled, almost breaking his chopsticks in half.

"I see," Tsume murmured.

She remained thoughtful as they finished the meal and started cleaning the dishes. The house felt empty with her husband and daughter gone on missions and Kiba… well, he was also doing missions now, wasn't he?

"Is your instructor planning to send you on another mission soon?" she finally asked.

"Dunno." Kiba shrugged. "That guy's totally unpredictable. Well, except for always being late. It'll probably take him another week just to file the report for this mission."

Ah, yes, the legendary Copy Ninja, Hatake Kakashi. If Tsume hadn't heard the same sort of thing from numerous other sources, she would have never believed it. But then again, the best ninja were always somewhat (and usually exceedingly) eccentric. When she'd first heard that he was chosen as instructor for her son, Tsume had almost despaired of Kiba's chances. And yet, Kakashi, who had failed every team assigned to him until now, had passed a batch of misfits.

"Tomorrow, ask him if it would be alright for you to miss training for about a week." Kiba looked at her in surprise, and hope. He knew what this meant. "Since I don't have any missions for a while, I'm going to teach you the basics of Tsuuga."

As Kiba cheered, making a victory sign, Tsume paused, uncertain of how to phrase what she wanted to say, and even whether she should say it at all.

"Kiba… Perhaps, when your training is complete, you could keep this technique as… an ace in the hole. Not reveal it to your teammates, even."

He paused, looking at her dubiously. "Hm? Uchiha doesn't have his Sharingan yet, so he can't copy it. And I doubt he'd use it anyway. To barbaric, probably." The genin snorted at the thought.

"No…" It would be so much easier if she could just tell him, but even if she didn't agree with the Hokage's policies, the Inuzuka clan was fiercely loyal. Which was all the more reason to nip this at the bud, before her son's loyalty to his… teammate… grew too deep. "I meant the other one."

"Kizuna? Why?" Kiba's eyes narrowed, and suddenly Tsume was afraid that it was already too late. "Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that. Everyone seems to have something against her, and I remember Dad telling me stay away from her a long time ago. But, you know, I can't figure out why. She's a little loud, short-tempered and bossy, but there's no reason for everyone to act like this. That guy was the same. Did you know he called Kizuna a thing?"

He was almost snarling now, and Akamaru was no calmer. Tsume closed her eyes, grimacing.

"Kiba… you don't know all the sides of the situation. She's not-" 'human' "-normal."

He snorted. "Normal? Neither are we. Neither are any of the other ninja. Neither is Uchiha, and everyone worships him for being 'special.' How does that make it okay to treat her like… like a monster or something?"

'Because the demon _is_ a monster.'

"Besides," Kiba continued, and Tsume looked at him carefully, recognizing the tone of his voice, "I didn't notice anything bad about her. And Akamaru like her fine." The small dog barked, and Kiba smirked lopsidedly. "Better than fine even."

"You and Akamaru are still young," Tsume objected wearily, slowly realizing this was a lost battle. "Your senses are still not entirely developed-"

Kiba cut in abruptly, "Kuromaru-san didn't have any problem with her either."

That brought her up short. Glancing at her partner, who had been watching the exchange silently, Tsume frowned. That was…

"Don't you trust Kuromaru-san?" Kiba asked, picking up on her hesitation and latching on to the sign of weakness.

"Yes," her partner murmured quietly, an almost amused quality to his voice. "Don't you trust me?"

"Of course, I trust you," Tsume denied quickly. To be accused of distrust by one's partner was the ultimate failing for an Inuzuka, and even when Kuromaru said it lightly, it was still potent.

Kiba grinned, triumphant, seeing the older dog's support as a sure sign of victory. He had so much potential, and even though both he and Akamaru were still so young, it showed. It made Tsume's heart ache just to think of him getting hurt…

"I was there as well," Kuromaru continued. "I remember it and its tainted power, its madness. That pup has nothing of the sort. That thing is buried deeply, too deeply to contaminate the host."

Looking between Kiba's confused yet determined expression (he didn't know what they were talking about, but he'd picked his side) and Kuromaru's calm expectation (he trusted her to make the right choice), Tsume sighed and surrendered.

"Very well. I suppose it would be for the best… if you trusted your teammates." 'I just hope it doesn't lead to betrayal.' "Tomorrow, tell your instructor and come to our training area by noon. We'll start on the basics of Tsuuga."

-  
-

end chapter the second.

Bio Note 2: Kiba's abilities. At this point in the story, I'm making it so that Kiba and Akamaru can perform the Juujin Bunshin no Jutsu (Human-Beast Clone Technique) with the help of a soldier pill. Yes, they had one (each, I guess) during Kakashi's bell test, when they were hiding in the bushes. Next chapter, he's going to be learning Tsuuga and Gatsuuga (which is Tsuuga performed by both Kiba and Akamaru-as-Kiba-in-Juujin-Bunshin at the same time, I think). His stamina's pretty good, but he still needs to work on it in order to pull of his techniques successfully. His control is pretty bad, though not as bad as Naruto's.

I hope I didn't get confused on Kiba's family. His father is missing because I don't know his name. Someone said Kiba's mother's name is Tsume, so I'm going with that. Also, is Kuromaru her dog or Hana's?

-  
-

This chapter was terribly tedious to write, but I wanted to work in Konohamaru.

Now, to answer a few questions. Kizuna graduated without problems, though in the bottom half of the class. So no, she doesn't know Kage Bunshin or about the Kyuubi. (Just imagine how that complicates the story, since Naruto uses it and the Kyuubi in every major battle.)

Pairings… are up in the air. There'll be crushes all around, usually in approximation of the love interests in canon. Yes, Sakura is a guy. Yes, Kizuna likes him. No, he doesn't like her. Yes, Hinata's going to have a crush on a guy. But the real pairings are undecided. I'm a yaoi fangirl, but now that the subject of my favorite pairings is a girl, I'm rather set against hooking her up with any on the usual guys. And no, none of the members of Team Seven are going to hook up with each other.

So, Kizuna needs a significant other (either gender), Sasuke needs a boyfriend, Kiba can stay single.

-  
-

Next chapter: Sasuke and Kizuna head off on a mission… alone… damn Kakashi and his scheming. Did you know, he was watching all last mission?

-  
-


	4. Side Story 3: Crazy Adventure

-

-

KIZUNA

Side Story 3: Crazy Adventure

(This is an old chapter that I'm keeping for archive purposes. You can skip it. Chronologically, it would be before the "Introduction" chapter but after Side Stories 1 and 2)

-

-

Although Team Seven's first mission had (essentially) been successful, Kakashi could already see a very obvious problem. Just as everyone had expected, Inuzuka and Uzumaki were far more willing to work with each other than with Sasuke. Not that Kakashi blamed them, frankly. Both were loud, outgoing and friendly, but both were also very put-off by the Uchiha's attitude.

It seemed like Kakashi would have to take matters into his own hands. Divide and conquer was the theme.

Most likely, it would be easier to start with Uzumaki. She and Sasuke would work best in a partnership of mutual reliance, where both acknowledged that the other could do his/her share of the work. In theory. As long as Sasuke stopped insulting the blonde, she'd tolerate him long enough to start really believing that he was a teammate. And once Kizuna decided you were her friend/teammate/partner/anything, she'd go to hell and back for you. And maybe, on some level, she could understand Sasuke's loneliness.

Kakashi had even found the perfect mission for them. Now the only problem was how to get rid of dog boy.

Fortunately Inuzuka solved that problem himself. When Kakashi appeared at their meeting spot the day after the end of their first mission, the first thing Kiba did, after yelling "You're late" and "Liar," was ask him if it would be alright for him to miss a week of training.

"My mother is going to be home for a little while and she agreed to teach me the basics of Tsuuga," he explained. Kakashi nodded agreeably. This was actually much better than sending dog boy on some pointless errand. Tsuuga, and Gatsuuga, were staple Inuzuka techniques, used by even the jounins and also the basis for many of the more advanced jutsus. To start learning it a week after graduation was pretty impressive. Or it would be, if he managed to master it.

"Go ahead. It's fine. I'll find something to occupy your teammates meanwhile."

Glancing at the two genin in question, Kakashi felt positively evil, in a good way. Kizuna had just retrieved the kunai she'd greeted her errant teacher with, and seemed to be considering throwing it again. Sasuke stood apart from the others, arms crossed, expression neutral.

They had no idea what was coming.

'Mwa hahaha…'

-  
-

Next morning, Kizuna and Sasuke waited for three hours in front of the Hokage tower. It was a very tense wait, especially for the blonde. The Uchiha's attitude annoyed her to no end, even when he was silent and distant, but at the same time, she was wary of starting a fight right in the middle of the street, especially since just about every other person passing by was a ninja. There was no question of whose side they'd take if the two members of Team Seven started fight.

When Kakashi's "Yo!" finally came, she whirled around to face the approaching jounin and prepared to throw her greeting-kunai.

"Now, now, please don't do that," Kakashi said far too cheerfully. "Dodging while holding this would be a little complicated."

'This' was a large white box with a row of round holes on each side, two-thirds of the way up. Kizuna stared at it for a moment, then looked at the jounin, before focusing on the building behind him.

"Why were you coming from the Hokage Tower?" she demanded. "Why keep us waiting if you got here early?"

Kakashi shrugged, though the motion was distorted by the box. Moving to stand in front of his students, he held it out to Sasuke. "Here," the jounin said when the dark-haired genin made no move to take it. "This is your next mission."

"A box? And why the hell are we doing a mission without Kiba?" Kizuna questioned, suspicious.

Kakashi waited until Sasuke took the box, then turned to Kizuna, holding out a sheet of paper. "Your mission is to deliver this box, or more precisely, what's inside of it, to Kikami village, which is a day's travel from here. This is a map, just in case, though all you need to do is stay on the road and follow the signs. It's D rank, so there shouldn't be any problems."

"You're not coming with us?" Kizuna looked at the paper with apprehension. Frowning, she glanced at Sasuke. "And how come he gets to carry it? And what's inside anyway?"

Kakashi laughed lightly. "Well, you see, I have some things I want to do…" He trailed off, quailing slightly under the blonde's glare. "What you're delivering is very fragile and delicate. You can't move faster than a jog while you're holding, and you can't drop it, or shake it. I think Sasuke is the better choice for the one to carry it, considering your history…" Kizuna twitched, almost blushing at the mild jab.

"What is it? Well…" The jounin rubbed his chin, then shrugged, smiling. "That's a secret."

This time, Kizuna had no reservations about throwing several kunai at him.

-  
-

"What do you think it is?"

Although Sasuke didn't believe that he needed two teammates in the first place, he still wished that he had been placed in a cell with Aburame or Nara instead. There were, he supposed, genin even worse than Inuzuka and Uzumaki, but the two of them were well near the top of his 'annoyance' list.

Inuzuka was loud, brash and stupid (he was last in the class, after all) and took everything as a challenge. Although he was only a second-rate shinobi, at best, and relied far too much on his dog, Inuzuka continued to pit himself against Sasuke, trying to prove that he was superior.

Pathetic.

Uzumaki, also, hated Sasuke with a passion. She'd made no secret about it in the Academy, and routinely set traps for the rookie of the year. She was loud, brash and stupid, as well as the owner of a fine temper and zero self-control.

Pathetic.

Frankly, Sasuke was surprised that she'd remained silent for the first three hours of their (pathetic) mission. That, he supposed, was because she'd been too busy gawking. How pathetic was it that she'd never been out of the village before?

And now, after a few minutes of staring intently at the 'mystery' box, she was looking at him with increasing annoyance.

Sasuke ignored her.

The kunoichi began to growl quietly, then took and a deep breath and tried again. "It's got to be something important, right? And fragile!"

Sasuke gave her a flat, bored look. "This is a D rank mission. Obviously, the object inside is of no real value."

"Yeah, I guess that's true," she mused, tilting her head to one side. Didn't she notice his absolute lack of desire to converse? She was even dumber than the fangirls. "But then, I wonder why Kakashi-sensei was so bitchy about how we treated it."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at her description of the jounin. 'Bitchy?' He snorted. At the (admittedly minor) sigh of emotion, the kunoichi grinned impishly. Sasuke closed his eyes and sped up.

Unfortunately, although Uzumaki was lacking in many aspects, she had plenty of stamina and caught up with him easily. The Uchiha scowled.

"He was certainly adamant that you should not be allowed to handle it. So, what record was he referring to?" Without turning, he looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "Just what did you manage break?"

"Eh…" Uzumaki blushed finely, looking away in embarrassment. "Well there was that time with the vase… all three of them… and the tea set… and the window… a few dozen times…"

Sasuke snickered, in spite of himself. It was just so pathetic, it was funny. The blonde mock-glared (he'd been at the receiving end of her real glares enough times to know when she meant it), pouted and stuck out her tongue.

Rolling his eyes, Sasuke smirked slightly.

"Some kind of low-level seal was placed on this container," he contributed, surprising even himself. "I can feel it." And he could. The damn box was humming just a little, a sure sign of a cyclical, semi-self-maintaining seal. "It may be to keep the box shut until it is delivered, but there appears to be something else as well."

"Ah…" Uzumaki stroked her chin in an exaggerated imitation of Kakashi's earlier action. She was silent for several moments, then declared, absolutely straight-faced, "I can't think of anything."

Grimacing, Sasuke stared at her for a moment before shaking his head. "Idiot."

"Am not!" she yelled back.

"You are," he insisted coolly. "Very much so."

Uzumaki glared, though much less potently than usual. "I'm so a better shinobi than you," she declared.

Sasuke snorted. "In your delusions maybe. Also, you're not a shinobi, you're a kunoichi." He eyed her critically. "A very bad one, granted."

Crossing her arms, the blonde turned up her nose and sniffed. "Yeah, whatever. And I don't give a damn about being a kunoichi. I'm going to be a great shinobi!"

"Having an identity crisis?" he asked sarcastically. "Of course, you're so crass, it is admittedly difficult to remember that you're a female."

"Shut up! At least I look my gender!"

"And just what does that mean?" he demanded.

"You're girly!" Uzumaki declared triumphantly.

"I am not!" What the hell was he doing, arguing with this idiot like a child?

"You so are! You're prettier than Ino-pig! If your hair didn't stick up like a chicken's, you'd look totally like a girl!" Uzumaki leaned toward him a little, tilting her head in a way that made her grin look both predatory and playful.

Raising his chin slightly, Sasuke looked down at her from the corner of his eye. In the back of his mind, he knew the pose was a little too exaggerated to be taken seriously. "A shinobi has no need to be concerned with his physical appearance," he told her haughtily.

Uzumaki snickered. In another girl, that would've been a giggle. Her eyes narrowed almost into slits and her grin was impish. The gestures, the words… part of him had just done it automatically, slipping into an easy banter…

The other part of Sasuke recoiled at the thought. Forcefully, he scowled, ripping away the good spirit of their argument.

"Maybe if you spent less time staring in the mirror, you'd be less of an idiot," he sneered. He knew she could tell that this wasn't a game any more, that he meant it. Uzumaki's expression shifted almost seamlessly into a glare and a scowl.

"I'm not an idiot! And I'm stronger than you!" she hissed.

Viciously, Sasuke drove the knife deeper, twisting the imaginary blade with every word. There was a kind of bitter satisfaction in reminding his 'teammate' of where they stood. "Someone like you could never be stronger than me. You're weak. You're always going to be weak."

"No way! I'll get much stronger, definitely! I'm going to be Hokage!"

"As if! You'll never get anywhere. A foolish dream like that will never come true. You're just too dumb to realize it."

"I'll make it a reality! There's no reason why-"

"There's no reason why they would choose you. Just what do you have to offer? No bloodline, no connections, no heritage, no strengths, no skills – just a worse-than-average kunoichi, and the village pariah, at that!"

That last part, what the hell was he doing, mentioning something like that? For all her excessive cheer and quicksilver emotions, Uzumaki always held a sense of old pain and a deep secret. Everyone hated her, and no reason was given. Flaunting that was like someone intentionally bringing up the Uchiha massacre, and then telling him… what?.. that the only reason he ever achieved anything was because everyone pitied him.

Well, that certainly got her attention. The line had been crossed, and they wouldn't be going to friendly banter now. Shaking, fists clenched, Uzumaki growled, "Put it down."

Even as he began to move, bending to set the box on the ground, the kunoichi shifted the strap of her messenger bag off her shoulder and dropped the pack to the ground.

Sasuke smirked grimly. "Guess even you're not dumb enough to forget about the mission. What a surpri-"

He didn't get a chance to finish as Uzumaki lunged for him, fist pulled back. Pathetic, broadcasting her moves like that. Sasuke dodged easily, stepping to the right, then ducking under a kick as the blonde spun around on her right leg and tried to hit him in the head with her left. Smirking, he swept her legs out from under her, but Uzumaki flipped, landing on her hands, pushed off and regained her feet again, about a foot away.

In the moment it took her to right herself, Sasuke threw two shuriken, forcing the blonde to leap to the side. His next barrage had accounted for that, however, leaving the girl no time to dodge. Pulling out her kunai, Uzumaki deflected them deftly, catching one as it fell and launching it back at him.

Sasuke dodged the shuriken, and the kunai that followed almost immediately, letting the throwing knife embed into the tree behind him with a dull thunk. He hadn't taken his eyes off his opponent, just like they'd been taught, just like an Uchiha was supposed to. That was exactly why he completely missed the explosive tag attached to the kunai.

It exploded almost instantly, throwing him forward. A chuck of wood hit him in the back as he braced against the force of the blast and tried to regain his balance. Sasuke grit his teeth, narrowing his eyes and trying to stay focused. He barely dodged Uzumaki's next punch, stumbling a little. The next attack, a back fist to the face, hit him full on.

Damnit, she really did hit hard, like getting nailed by a sledgehammer. The blow completely lifted him off his feet, and Sasuke felt himself sail through the air before plowing into the ground. Using his momentum, even as the back of his head, neck and lower back screamed, Sasuke flipped backwards onto his feet. Just in time, as Uzumaki drove a heel drop into the place his had just been. A small crater and a spiderweb of cracks spread outward from the place of impact, making Sasuke grimace for a moment. He wouldn't be able to take too many hits like that.

Throwing her weight forward, Uzumaki threw a straight right, but Sasuke was ready this time. Sidestepping the attack, he moved closer and drove an elbow into the blonde's solar plexus, followed by an upward palm strike to the chin.

Sasuke didn't pause in his attacks, realizing that his best chance was not to let Uzumaki recover. He hated to admit it, but she wasn't half-pathetic in combat. Both she and Inuzuka were so low in the class rankings mainly because they failed utterly in all things academic. Uzumaki though, had a certain advantage over dog boy. She was fast enough to avoid most single attacks, and she could both take and deal a lot of damage.

Grabbing a fistful of her t-shirt, he dragged the girl down, throwing her further off balance. A knee to the stomach, an elbow across the face – Uzumaki stumbled away, trying to put some distance between them. Sasuke landed a spinning kick, flashing through the hand signs for Goukakyuu even before he had set his foot down again.

The Grand Fireball engulfed the area, setting a nearby stand of trees on fire. As the smoke cleared, he could just make out the figure of his teammate. Uzumaki had managed to avoid the epicenter of the technique, but had still been caught in the outer edges. Her shirt was singed, and the skin on the left side of her face, her left arm was quickly turning an angry red. Her left eye was squeezed shut, and her scowl had a hint of pain in it.

For a moment, Sasuke froze. He'd never seen what his fire techniques could do to a person. For all his purpose, he'd never caused injury with anything except taijutsu, not even shuriken or kunai. And yet, somehow, even without thinking, he'd been fighting with the intent to seriously injure his opponent… his opponent who wasn't a real opponent. She might be pathetic and annoying, but… '_You might as well kill them yourself,' Kakashi warned._

There was only one person he wanted to kill, and no matter how he looked, Sasuke couldn't see him in his short, short-tempered, annoying teammate.

In the moment that he had been thinking, Uzumaki had recovered enough to continue, lunging at him. She didn't seem at all phased by the turn their fight had taken, as if having an ally attempt on her life was completely normal. But up close, he could see the damage from Goukakyuu clearly. Second degree burns at least, the Academy-trained part of his mind catalogued automatically.

What would it have been like if she hadn't dodged? If Kizuna had been Inuzuka who had worse reaction time and less speed?

He dodged her initial attack, but was too slow, too preoccupied to get out of the way completely. Grabbing him by the collar, Uzumaki shoved the dark-haired genin back, against a tree that had managed to survive their battle.

But she didn't attack, really. Didn't hit him hard enough to knock him out and break bone, though she definitely could, didn't pull out a kunai and stab him in the vitals, though he wouldn't have been able to dodge just then.

"I'm not weak," she hissed, her face only inches away from his. "And I'll get stronger."

He swallowed down the bitter taste in his mouth, watching his teammate warily. At least some of his thoughts must have shown on his face because, after a moment, her glare lessened, shifting into an annoyed and questioning expression, asking clearly, 'What the hell is wrong with you now?'

They stared at each other until she snorted and rolled her eyes, letting go of his t-shirt and backing away a little. "I'm not weak," she told him again, daring him to disagree.

Sasuke nodded, more reflex than anything. Definitely. 'And in any case,' he told himself, 'she is certainly not physically weak.' And more than that, anyone who could meet a serious, malicious attack with appropriate force and then suddenly stop when that opposition vanished was definitely not entirely weak-minded.

Kizuna eyed him suspiciously. "Right," she finally allowed, then shrugged. "Same to you."

Same to him? Was she only now admitting that he wasn't weak? Wasn't it obvious when he graduated top of the class?

"You're still a jerk though," she added.

Laughing at his expression, which hadn't really changed, Sasuke knew, but must have shifted just a little, Kizuna turned away and began to walk to where they'd left their things, running a hand through her hair. "That's okay though, as long as you're not too annoying. Not to worry, though, 'cause I'll beat it out of you if you get too-"

Sasuke paused in his glare, watching the blonde warily as she suddenly stopped moving.

"Hey, Uchiha," she began, "where's the box?"

He glared again, calculating quickly and turning toward the place where he'd left it. "It's right-"

Except that it wasn't there.

Somehow, the mission had just gotten even worse.

Shaking off their stupor, both of them jogged, somewhat stiffly, over to the place where the box should have been. Sasuke stopped at the exact spot where he'd been standing then, while Kizuna moved over to her bag.

"Hey!" she exclaimed. "Someone went through my stuff!"

Moving quickly, the kunoichi checked through her bag, then packed up her belongings and stood up. "Well, my normal food is gone, though the emergency rations are still here," she commented. Making a face, she murmured, "Wouldn't want to eat those either, yuck, yuck."

"Concentrate, will you!" Sasuke snarled, looking up for a moment before returning his gaze to the ground. He cursed mentally, already knowing he wouldn't find any tracks. He just hadn't paid more than minimal attention to things like that in class. And Uzumaki was even worse.

Shit. What were they going to do now?

Okay, he had to be calm since Uzumaki definitely wasn't going to be the voice of reason. Whoever it was hadn't gone too close to their battle, so that already eliminated half the possible directions. The best way to go about this was to split up. For a D-rank mission, foreign ninja wouldn't be involved, so either of them would be perfectly capable of handling the thief.

"Alright," he began, nodding sharply, "we'll split up. You, search that way, and I'll go this way," he indicated two directions about ninety degrees apart. "If you find it, toss an explosive tag in the air." Uzumaki frowned, instantly balking at the idea of actually obeying orders. Sasuke gave her his best "you have a better idea?" look.

Well, wasn't that progress? Before this mission from hell, he would have gone for the "I'm so better than, how dare you argue" look.

Baring her teeth and huffing angrily, Uzumaki spun around sharply and took off. Sasuke watched for a second longer, just to make sure that she didn't turn around and fill with kunai instead, then began his search.

This had about a one-in-a-million chance of working.

-  
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The thief licked her face again, his fur tickling her face. Kizuna sneezed, then giggled quietly, stroking the inquisitive striped muzzle.

That's right, folks. They, two Konoha ninja, had gotten robbed be a raccoon. A raccoon.

Yeah.

Uchiha was going to blow a blow a casket. Kizuna grinned, imagining the stoic boy's reaction. Served him right. And she was the one who found their thief, too.

Well, that was more luck than anything, but still…

Holding the animal up, she asked playfully, "And just what did you want with a silly box anyway? Food, I can understand, but a big white box? I hope you didn't jostle it too much…"

The raccoon tilted its head to one side, large dark eyes regarding her curiously. He was really a magnificent creature, large and healthy.

Still not a match for the great shinobi Uzumaki Kizuna, of course.

"But really, where is that jerk?" she asked the raccoon, frowning slightly. "I sent up the signal ten minutes ago. He couldn't have gotten that far. Jerk." The raccoon yawned and began grooming its muzzle. Kizuna snorted. "Not interested in Uchiha's face, huh? Oh well. I guess I better go look for him."

Picking up the box, Kizuna climbed to her feet. The raccoon ignored her. "No need for you to come," she told it flatly.

She decided to head back to the clearing where they started first. From there, she could retrace Uchiha's path. And if she couldn't find him, then… Well, she'd think of something if it came to that. It wasn't like she cared what happened to the stupid bastard anyway.

Still, as she arrived at "crime scene" and, sparring a short glance to their devastated battlefield, headed the way Uchiha had planned to go, Kizuna began to feel worried. He might have been stuck up, self-centered, arrogant and just plain annoying, but Uchiha was a teammate. Sort of. And it was duty as a shinobi to protect her teammates. Sort of.

So it was her duty to-

Kizuna backpedaled abruptly, trying to stop, and almost fell off the branch she had landed on. There. On the next tree over, several small spots of something dark. Moving to the spot, she crouched and examined the substance. It was blood, dry now. Uchiha's? But why..?

Their fight. Right. He'd gotten hit pretty bad by pieces of that tree she'd blown up.

Standing, Kizuna scanned the area, looking for more blood. Yeah, she could see it and smell it too. Pushing away a few half-formed imagines of Uchiha dying of blood loss (complete nonsense anyway), Kizuna followed the trail.

A little further a long, the trail turned, and Kizuna guessed this was the point where she had set off the signal, making Uchiha change course. The blood was more frequent now, and a little fresher.

It was a few more minutes before she caught up with Uchiha. He was slumped against a tree, and for a moment Kizuna thought he had passed out. But then, the other genin looked up and glared at her, dispelling most of her concern.

Setting the box down gingerly (carrying the thing had almost given her a nervous breakdown), she kneeled next to Uchiha and opened her bag. Since she healed so fast, Kizuna didn't really use medical supplies for herself, but years of training as a good, support-oriented kunoichi had drilled the need to carry a first aid kit into her.

Pulling out a roll of bandages, medical tape, several packs of gauze and a jar of salve, she regarded her patient. Considering the look Uchiha was giving her, Kizuna felt a little wary of approaching. He looked ready to tear her head of if she so much as hinted that he needed help.

Should she knock him? Kakashi-sensei would not approve. Should she glare him into submission? That would take the rest of the day. Should she negotiate? Ha. Ha. Yeah, right.

Uchiha spared her the effort of deciding and spoke first. "Don't bother," he gritted out, staggering to his feet. Kizuna twitched, her mouth twisting in annoyance. "I don't need you help."

Dropping her supplies on top of the box (better than the ground), Kizuna grabbed double fistfuls of his dark shirt and pulled the genin down again. "Good for you," she declared. Pausing only for second to savor his shocked expression (although it wasn't really all that different from all his other expressions), Kizuna yanked the shirt up and off.

As she had planned, Uchiha was caught completely off-guard and only began to resist when the shirt was almost entirely off his body. As a result, the material got tangled around his arms, tying them together.

As her teammate squawked incoherent protests (and was that a _blush_ she saw?), Kizuna moved to the side so that she had at least a peripheral view of Uchiha's back. It wasn't too bad, just really bloody.

Pulling out her canteen, the blonde unceremonially dumped the contents onto the wounds. Uchiha visibly bit down a shriek and only winced, glaring murder. Using the lull in his protest and struggles, Kizuna deftly applied the salve and taped on patches of gauze over the wounds.

"You-" Uchiha began, finally recovering his voice.

"Don't bother," she cut him off. "I'm almost done."

He glared but didn't protest further, and Kizuna quickly wrapped bandages around his torso. She grinned impishly, watching Uchiha in the tense silence. He _was_ blushing. Not used to baring skin around a girl, huh? Oh, his fan-club would die of envy.

Securing the end of the bandage, Kizuna relayed this thought to her teammate.

The look he gave her was priceless.

"Just think, this is two points I've got over them!" she gloated. "Not only did I share lunch with Sasuke-kun" (he twitched at the overly girly way she said his name) "but I even got to see him half-naked!"

Uchiha snarled, pulling his shirt back.

As his head emerged from the ridiculously large collar, Kizuna tossed an energy bar at him. Uchiha caught it deftly and glared, ready to make some stupid comment. The blonde frowned, suddenly tired of his attitude. Was she like that? Certainly not. Probably. There was a fine line between independent and obstinacy…

"Just eat it and let's go," she bit out. "You're carrying the stupid box, by the way." He wasn't that injured anyway. After a moment, Uchiha unwrapped the bar and began to eat carefully. Watching him, Kizuna abruptly realized how hungry she was. They had left Konoha hours ago, and she hadn't eaten since hours before that.

Pulling out another bar, Kizuna bit in and shuddered. It was so disgusting. But she was hungry enough not to care. As Uchiha watched, chewing on his own ration expressionlessly, she devoured it in a few large bites, grimacing in between.

Gathering her things, Kizuna stood. A moment later, Uchiha followed suit, only the slightest shift in his features giving away his discomfort. Kizuna refused to feel guilty. It was his own fault for saying things like that and pissing her off.

"Don't," she began, frowning and looking away, "don't write us off as useless baggage." Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Uchiha pause. "If Kiba had been here, he would've tracked the box down in no time. 'Cause that's what he's good at. And… even though I hate things like that, I can patch up wounds and set up traps and stuff like that…"

She turned back toward Uchiha, suddenly feeling as if the distance between them was too much. "Don't you get it? We're teammates. That's just the way it is! I want… I want to work with you! I want to know that I can count on you! I want to know that you can count on me…"

She trailed off. All she could see was Uchiha's back, his tattered shirt, with the white and red crest torn almost completely off. He hadn't looked back or given any sign that could hear her, understand what she was saying.

Kizuna slumped slightly, eyes turning down to the ground. Well, what had she expected? This was pointl-

"Take it."

The girl looked, blinking in surprise. Uchiha frowned, holding out the box gingerly.

"Take it," he repeated, sounding more annoyed at her silence. "It's your fault, in any case, so you should carry it."

Carefully taking the package from him, Kizuna smiled faintly.

_I can trust you with this._

-  
-

"Can you believe the nerve of that guy!" Kizuna complained, gesturing wildly. "He actually had the nerve to tell us we were late!"

"We _were_ late," Uchiha pointed out flatly, not even bothering to look at he blonde.

Kizuna continued as if she hadn't heard him. "Like he had any right to complain!"

Trying desperately to stiffen his laughter, Kiba looked between his two teammates. After a week of grueling training, he had returned to the rest of Team Seven. Now, the other two genin were relaying their bizarre mission to him. Well, Kizuna was relaying, with Uchiha making snide (but true) comments now and then.

"Sounds like you had an interesting mission. Damn, figures I'd miss it." He scratched his head for a moment. A raccoon stealing an important package? Getting lost between Konoha and Kikami? It was almost too crazy to believe. "The only thing I don't get is, what was in the box? Something cool, right?"

Kizuna smiled suddenly, looking very girly and blushing faintly. Cupping her face in her hands, she swayed her hips and cooed. The boys gave identical looks of disbelief. Kiba turned to look at Uchiha, horrified. The number one rookie rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"Kittens," he provided.

"They were so cute!" Kizuna squealed.

Kiba was dumbfounded. "Kittens?" he repeated. "There were kittens in the box?" No way…

"Yeah! The wife of the lord of fire country has a bunch of cats and one of them gave birth. She wanted the kittens delivered to her cousin in Kikami, but they were put under a hypnosis technique for the trip," Kizuna explained, still beaming.

Kiba snorted and burst out laughing. The blonde stuck out her tongue, while Uchiha just looked away. After a few minutes, the dog used finally managed to calm down and looked between his teammates.

"What I really don't get," he began, smirking, "is how you two managed to get lost between here and Kikami." Both of them twitched. "It's like a straight path, with a nice large road. Even a six-year-old could make it!"

"Shut up!" KIzuna yelled, knocking him across the head. Kiba retaliated by tackling her. Uchiha gave them the "touch me and die" look. Of course, they just had to attack him after that.

Watching from a safe distance, Kakashi snickered.

Kids.

-  
-

end chapter the third.

Bio Note 3: Sasuke's abilities. Sasuke is, of course, very proficient at taijutsu and ninjutsu, and if they had kept going, would have probably won. But really, think about it. He's never fought "for real" before. And now he almost seriously injures a teammate, after all of Kakashi's "teamwork!" speeches. So yeah, Sasuke is better than Kizuna, but not by too much.

-  
-

This chapter was even worse than the last one. Damn you, Sasuke!

But I'm finally done. I was thinking of doing a chapter to introduce the other teams a bit more, but now I don't think I could manage another plotless chapter. So we're moving on to the Wave Country Arc. Haku! No, don't die!

-  
-

Next chapter: Team Seven finally gets a real mission. But things aren't all sunshine and daisies as the ugly truth about the ninja way begins to show…

-  
-


	5. RE Wave Country 1: C rank Begins

-

-

KIZUNA

(RE) Wave Country I

(Note: Wave Country is 3 parts, all of them rewritten. Some procedure changes from original version, but outcome is the same)

-

-

Another day for Team Seven… but this time, the mission was a little different.

"C-rank! C-rank!" Kizuna chanted, just short of skipping down the dirt road.

Her teammates were a great deal less excited. "Man, all we're doing is accompanying some drunk old guy to some island," Kiba complained. "It's almost as boring as a D-rank." The sun was high overhead and he was starting to get hot under his thick jacket. He had already pushed off his hood, and Akamaru had abandoned his usual place inside Kiba's coat to perch on his shoulder.

'Getting closer to summer,' he thought absently. 'I can't believe it's already been so long since I got put on this crazy team.'

Kizuna laughed, turning to face him and walking backwards. "Yeah, but I've never been out of the village before~! This is so cool! And maybe we'll get attacked by bandits or something!"

'Who'd want to attack an old drunk anyway?' Kiba wondered to himself. He had been kind of excited at first, but two days into their road trip – because that's what it was, really – he was starting to get seriously bored. Well, as least he was taking it better than Uchiha. Glancing over his shoulder at his other teammate, Kiba smirked a bit. Sasuke looked even more constipated than usual as he walked just ahead of their client and glared at everything as if it hid some unknown danger – or the source of all his problems.

Up ahead, Kizuna jumped over a puddle and danced ahead. "Don't forget our mission is to protect Mr. Tazuna," Kakashi called out to her. "So stay close to the customer." Pausing, Kizuna pouted and rocked on her heels impatiently as the rest of her team caught up.

Kiba reached her first and paused as well. Sniffing the air, he frowned. There was an odd scent hanging around that made him uneasy – like mist and metal. On his shoulder, Akamaru perked up a little, smelling the same thing. As Sasuke and Tazuna passed by, with Kakashi bringing up in the rear, Kiba tried to catch the jounin's eye. What he could see of Kakashi's expression didn't shift, but at least seemed like Kakashi had noticed the same thing.

'And probably more,' Kiba thought, annoyed. 'And he's probably going to keep it from us, the secretive bastard. Training us to look underneath the underneath! More like laziness. And perverted sadism.'

But as their team regrouped and moved forward again, Kiba became more and more sure of what he'd smelled. There had been other people on the road not long before, and they'd lingered for a while.

"Kakashi-sensei," he began, turning to look back at the jounin with a frown… only to freeze as two cloaked, masked men rose out of the puddle. They moved quickly, with ninja-trained speed, using the chain between their gauntlets to bind Kakashi and…

Kiba stared in horror as his teacher was ripped apart, his _pieces_ falling in a bloody shower. "One down," one of the foreign ninja muttered, turning to Kiba and raising his claw. But before he could carry through with his attack, Akamaru launched himself at the enemy shinobi, landing on his face and scratching at his eyes.

Seeing his partner act snapped Kiba out of his frozen daze and, growling, he launched himself at his opponent with his clan's signature Tsuuga. The technique slammed straight into the enemy ninja, knocking him off course and plowing him into the ground. The other was yanked behind them by the chain connecting the two until he released it and regained his footing. His suddenly frantic gaze landed on the team's client.

As the enemy charged at Tazuna, Sasuke – the closest – slid in front of the bridge builder and blocked the attack, kunai clashing against the enemy's claw. Sasuke grit his teeth, his smaller size putting him at a disadvantage, but before the enemy could overpower him, Kizuna pulled herself together and attacked with a barrage of shuriken.

The enemy nin dodged out of the way, only to find himself caught by the suddenly-unharmed Kakashi, who had his partner by the collar in his other hand. His genin stared at him, their eyes darting over to the pile of firewood that had been his bloody remains. Sasuke frowned. Kizuna brightened in relief. Kiba just looked annoyed.

Casually, Kakashi greeted them, "Yo."

"It figures," Kiba muttered. On the other side of the impromptu battlefield, Sasuke shook his head and crossed his arms, sheathing his kunai.

Kizuna ran over to him with a relieved smile. "I thought you _died_, sensei!" she called out.

"So eager to be rid of me…" Kakashi noted, moving to bind the two enemy nin to a tree. "But, no. I wanted to see who the target was… and to see how you'd react. Not bad, all of you." He was honestly rather pleased, especially with Kiba and Sasuke actually beginning to suspect the presence of an enemy ahead of time. Though Kiba and Kizuna had both frozen at first, they'd managed to pull themselves together well enough.

Kakashi offered them what passed for a smile, making Kizuna beam before running over to check on Kiba and Akamaru. At her concern, Kiba smirked and preened a little, while Uchiha only frowned a little.

"However," Kakashi was gratified to see that all three genin instantly gave him their full attention, "I think there are some things that Tazuna-san has not been completely honest about."

The bridge builder was barely starting to pull himself together, still rattled by the attempt on his life. Under the combined attention of four shinobi, who had just proven their competence, he practically quivered.

"Ah…" he stammered, "y-yes. It's not… not just bandits I need protection against…"

The bridge builder's sob story was simple, though he drew it out as much as possible. His land was impoverished under the grip of a greedy tyrant business tycoon. The bridge was their one hope. Kakashi had heard many sob stories in his years as a shinobi, so one more did little to influence his composure. Sasuke looked completely unmoved by the tale of woe as well, but Kizuna and Kiba were obviously outraged on Tazuna's behalf.

"If you want to turn back, I'll perfectly understand," Tazuna exclaimed, feeling much better now and trying to manipulate them again. "I mean it's not like anyone would miss me once I'm killed. Just my poor daughter and my little grandson, left all alone…"

He was definitely faking it, drawing an annoyed look from Sasuke, but Kiba and Kizuna were completely fooled.

"Kakashi-sensei! We're gonna keep going, right?!" Kiba exclaimed.

"Yeah! We can totally handle it, and we've got to help!" Kizuna seconded.

Sasuke nodded in agreement reluctantly, though he was more interested in the possibility of facing more skilled opponents.

Scratching at the back of his head, Kakashi pretended to think, though he had already weighed the pros and cons, of course. Chances were, they wouldn't get another C-rank mission for a while. And with him there, it should be alright, no matter what. And he had always believed in trial by fire.

"I'm probably going to regret this later, but… alright. We'll accompany you to Wave Country," he concluded.

Kizuna and Kiba cheered, and Sasuke smirked. Kakashi sighed, regarding the two Mist chuunin out of the corner of his eye. Next time, the enemy would be much stronger, out of the genins' league. He'd need to be on guard.

-

-

A week into their first C-rank, Team Seven was having another (more or less) typical day.

"Look how fat it is! It'll make a perfect dinner if we fry it!" Kiba yelled, gesturing to the half-molted rabbit in Kizuna's arms.

"No way!" Uzumaki protested. "Don't even think about it! The poor thing, how dare you!" Glaring at Kiba, she cuddled the white rabbit closer and stroked its ears gently. "There, there now. I won't let the mean jerk cook you, I promise," she cooed.

The rabbit had been frozen in terror ever since she'd picked it up, the whites of its eyes clearly visible.

Purposely keeping ahead of the pair as the head of the group, Sasuke grimaced faintly, both his patience and his apathy severely strained. The two morons never shut up, not even at night – Kiba snored, loud enough to wake the dead.

Kiba glared at the rabbit, which Akamaru had found in the bushes, silently cursing it. Honestly, he was a bit disturbed by how… _girly_ Kizuna acted over it – Kizuna, who generally registered as a "girl" only nominally in his view of the world.

"It probably has an owner!" Kizuna protested. "What if they want it back?"

"Kakashi-sensei said we're still hours from the nearest town!"

"Actually," Kakashi chimed in helpfully, "it hasn't molted yet, even though it's spring, so the rabbit probably isn't wild."

"That just means it's defective," Kiba grumbled.

Scowling, Kizuna shoved him and looked to Kakashi. "So you agree it's got an owner, Kakashi-sensei?" she prompted.

Sasuke glanced back at them, frowning. Unlike his teammates, he caught on the implications of what Kakashi had pointed out. "If it's still molting, the owner can't be from around here," he said. "For its fur to be white, it must be from pretty far up north."

"Maybe it's a merchant's," Uzumaki suggested, petting the creature absently. The poor thing looked like it was about to die of heart failure.

Kiba snorted. "You're making too much out of this."

That drew a glare from Sasuke. "A shinobi's life and success depend on attention to detail," he barked out. "You didn't even notice those Mist-nins before, even though you should know it hadn't rained for days, so there wouldn't have been any puddles."

"So? I smelled them!" Kiba protested. "Don't act so high and mighty!"

"Hmph. Then why did you freeze up? If your dog hadn't attacked, that Mist-nin would have gutted you," Sasuke taunted.

Joining Kiba in glaring at him, Kizuna said, "Don't be such a jerk! You didn't do that great either. That guy would've tossed you aside if I hadn't helped."

"I didn't need help! Especially from a loser like you," Sasuke snarled, stopping and turning to face the other two fully.

Kizuna bristled. "Take that back! You-"

Just ahead, Kakashi and Tazuna had stopped to watch the argument. The bridge builder just sighed, tired and quite used to the genins' behavior after a week. Kakashi had looked on expressionlessly, but he tensed suddenly.

"EVERYONE, TAKE COVER!" he yelled.

Instantly, his team moved.

Everything seemed to spin for a single chaotic moment, as Sasuke lunged to the side, snagging Kizuna across the waist and pulling her along, the rabbit still in her arms, while Kiba rolled the other way, Akamaru hanging on to his coat. They could hear the client's startled yell as Kakashi pushed him down.

They were out of the way just in time as something positively huge sliced through the air between them.

All three genin hit the ground hard, but they were almost instantly back on their feet, searching for the enemy. The attacker wasn't hard to find; they only needed to follow the path of the weapon. The sword now embedded in the tree was huge, taller than any of the genin and no doubt heavy as well. However, the man that stood on top of it, his back to them, looked as if he could wield it effortlessly.

He looked more like a thug than a ninja, but his hitai-ate proclaimed him as a shinobi of the Mist.

Kiba seemed ready to charge him, but Kakashi's arm shot out, stopping him in his tracks.

"Stay back," the jounin barked. "This one is on a different plane from our previous opponents."

Kiba scowled. "But we could-"

Kakashi's suddenly serious stare made him back down.

Their enemy was watching them, had been all along, sardonically amused by the minor drama. "Kakashi of the Sharingan, I presume?" he finally spoke.

For all his training, Sasuke's surprise showed clearly. Next to him, Inuzuka started as well. "Sharingan?" he repeated, looking back at Sasuke. "Why would-?"

Only Kizuna looked more confused than shocked.

"If it wouldn't be too much trouble, could you surrender the old man?" the Mist-nin continued, ignoring the children.

A single gesture from Kakashi had the client backing away, toward them. "Assume the manji battle formation! Protect Mr. Tazuna!" he ordered. They hadn't heard that kind of tone from Kakashi before, not even during the "test" at the memorial. This wasn't a game, or an exercise.

All three tensed, darting to take the three-pronged manji formation. For a rare moment, their feelings were almost the same, a kind of anxious anticipation. This was what they had trained for – their first real battle.

Ahead of them, between them and the enemy, Kakashi lifted a hand to his hitai-ate and slid it up into its proper place.

"Ahh…" the Mist-nin drawled, "To face the legendary Mirror-Wheel eye so early in our acquaintance… This _is_ an honor." Turning to face them fully, he seemed to smirk underneath the bandages. "It looks like I'm going to have to kill you first."

In a blur of movement that was almost too fast to follow, the Mist-nin jumped away, pulling his sword out of the tree, and landed to their right, standing on top of a small pond. With one arm raised above his head, and the other in the standard chakra-molding seal, he practically glowed with power.

"The finest of the ninja arts.." he murmured. "Kirigakure no jutsu."

And then he was gone.

"He will come after me first…" Kakashi instructed, serious and entirely different from his usual lazy mask. "Momochi Zabuza, formerly of Kirigakure, is a famous master of the art of silent killing. You don't even notice until you're dead. Stay on your guard."

The three genin nodded, but the sound of Zabuza's voice echoing through the thick mist, distorted and inhuman, still took them by surprise.

_"There are eight targets. Throat, spinal column, lungs, liver, jugular vein, subclavian artery, kidney, heart."_

The basics shinobi were raised on. They all knew this, but…

_"...so many choices. What vital, vulnerable place shall I choose?"_

…knowing those facts wasn't the same as this…

_"Heh…"_

Zabuza's killer intent was almost palpable. This man wouldn't hesitate to kill. A single motion, and you're dead. Frozen in place like a rodent, about to go insane under the pressure…

"Sasuke. Kiba. Kizuna." Kakashi had turned slightly, his false Sharingan regarding his students. "Don't worry," he said calmly. "Even if he kills me, I'll protect you. I won't let my comrades die."

The genin relaxed a little, Kizuna blushing faintly. Even though they knew intellectually that Kakashi was a skilled jounin and their instructor, this situation was the first time they could really appreciate his strength.

Then, without warning, a presence appeared behind them, next to the client. Zabuza's voice was, close, too close, as he whispered, "Game over."

The Mist-nin's giant blade sliced through the air, but there was no sound of contact. Without a moment to spare, Kakashi was suddenly there as well, pushing them out of the way, grabbing Zabuza around the waist and physically dragging him away.

The next movements were rapid-fire, almost too fast to follow. Kakashi stabbed his opponent through the gut, but Zabuza dissolved into water and reappeared behind their instructor, swinging his blade and seemingly cleaving the other jounin in half. But Kakashi too dissolved and reappeared behind Zabuza, holding a kunai to the mist-nin's neck.

"Don't move," Kakashi ordered. "It's over."

But Zabuza only laughed.

"Over? You just don't get it… You'll have to do to beat me than just mimic me like an ape…" He seemed completely at ease. "But that was impressive of you. In that short time, you had already copied my Water Clone technique… And you had your clone say something you might have said yourself to attract my attention while the real you hid in the mist and watched me. Good plan, but…"

And suddenly, this Zabuza dissolved as another appeared behind Kakashi.

"I'm not that easy either!"

Kakashi ducked, letting the giant cleaver pass above him, swinging around and digging into the ground behind Zabuza. Undaunted, the Mist-nin used the handle to balance himself as he delivered a crushing kick to Kakashi's side.

Kakashi sailed through the air and crashed head-first into the pond Zabuza had been standing on earlier. The Mist-nin darted after him, phasing out and reappearing behind their teacher as he surfaced. His hands blurred in a complex string of seals, and suddenly, Kakashi was in surrounded by a swirling sphere of water.

"Now I have you in my special inescapable prison," Zabuza gloated. "It makes things tougher if you can move, you know. I'll finish you later…" he promised, "… after I've dealt with the others."

Even as Zabuza spoke, another clone rose out of the water and began to stalk toward the genin and their client. "Heh-heh," it laughed in Zabuza's voice. "Wearing hitai-ate and acting like real ninja… But you know what? A real ninja has faced death numerous times and survived… Until you're good enough to earn a listing in my bingo book of top shinobi, you can't be called real ninja…"

"We just graduated! Of course we're not in your stupid book yet!" Kiba protested, his brain and common sense choosing the worst time to take a vacation, as always.

Zabuza laughed again, content to taunt them before going for the kill. "No, you'll never grow up. You brats will never be real ninja." He paused, smirking. "Well, you would never be able to become ninja, even if you lived past this point. You just don't have what it takes."

Kizuna scowled at that, easily insulted, and demanded, "And what makes you so special?!"

Zabuza's voice was chilling and gleeful as he began, "When I was about your age… These hands were already dyed red with blood."

Kizuna started, her eyes widening in surprise and just a little horror. "Demon…" Kakashi murmured, almost inaudibly, but in the sudden silence, everyone could hear.

"Ah…" Zabuza drawled. "So you've heard a little about it."

Honestly, Kakashi might have believed in shock tactics, but this was more than he wanted his young, green students to experience. But he needed to stall for time, maybe, just maybe enough to come up with some solution. He continued, "Long ago, in the Hidden Mist village, also called the Blood Mist village, there was a final obstacle in becoming a ninja."

"So you know about the graduation exam," Zabuza mused. Turning back to them, he smirked. "Do you want to know, what that exam was?"

Somehow, they didn't dare to say yes. But Zabuza continued all the same.

"Fights to the death between the students."

His smirk widened at their stunned silence.

"Friends, who had trained together and eaten at the same table, were pitted against each other and fought until one lost his life. Friends who had helped each other and shared dreams…"

"Ten years ago, the Hidden Mist was forced to change their policy," Kakashi picked up the narrative. "This change came after a demon appeared. That demon... a young boy who was not even a ninja… slaughtered over a hundred students without pause or hesitation."

"You?" Kizuna demanded, stepping forward. She looked horrified. "You killed… you killed a hundred comrades? You would kill a friend? Just like that! For what?!"

Zabuza laughed. "Comrades? Friends? Friends are meaningless, a weakness."

"That's not true!" Kizune protested. "A friend is someone precious, who stands by you and lends you their strength. Someone who helps you see something you can't find alone! Someone to treasure and protect with all your strength! What could possibly be worth not only throwing that away, but twisting it beyond recognition?!"

"Power," Sasuke murmured without thinking.

Kiba stared at him, horrified. Zabuza chuckled, amused. But Kizuna only glared over her shoulder sharply.

"If you'd just bother looking, you'd know there's more than one way to become strong!" Her stare bore into him for only a moment longer before she spun around again. "There's no need to choose something so twisted! You're wrong! You're wrong to just stare at your goal of power so long that you stop seeing the road you're walking!"

"Oh?" Zabuza drawled, chuckling. "But then… I didn't do it for power… I did it just for fun."

And suddenly, he was charging at them.

Almost faster than they could register, he batted Kizuna away and slammed a fist into Kiba's stomach. The Inuzuka gasped, falling to his knees, only to be kicked down. Zabuza slammed one foot onto his back to keep him down and chuckled.

"That's one 'friend' less for you," he taunted, raising his sword over Kiba's neck.

Kizuna screamed a battle cry as she launched a swarm of shuriken at the Mist-nin. He used his sword to deflect them easily, but the weapons were only a distraction for Kizuna's charge. She slammed into the wide flat of his blade with both feet and latched onto his arm, her weight momentarily unbalancing Zabuza, so that Kiba could escape.

Growling, the Mist-nin swung his arm and Kizuna easily allowed herself to be flung away. A moment too late, he noticed the explosive tags she'd left behind, and the Bunshin exploded in a burst of water.

In the confusion, Sasuke barely noticed that Inuzuka hadn't scrambled toward him and their client, but instead he raced toward the real Zabuza on all fours. The Mist nin didn't miss the attack and quickly began to create another Bunshin; even before it was complete, its legs still two pillars of water, it drew its sword into guard position.

"Now, Akamaru!" Kiba barked as he sprang at the Bunshin. The puppy, whom the other ninja had completely forgotten, slipped out of Kiba's hood and, in a burst of smoke, became another Kiba. As Akamaru transformed, Kiba began to spin, disappearing in a whirl of energy. The spiraling attack slammed into the water clone, plowing through it, sword and all.

The clone dissolved, and through the falling water, the transformed Akamaru attacked, mimicking his partner. Zabuza's eyes widened fractionally, but he was a jounin, and a strong one. In an impressive show of agility, he dodged Akamaru's attack, letting it plot into the water behind him.

But it was then that Zabuza fell prey to the very weakness Kakashi had wanted Team Seven to use in his infamous bell test – three "brats", no matter how overwhelmed individually were _hard_ to keep track of. They might not have been able to take him down, but they could take him by surprise. And that was enough.

Between Kizuna, Kiba and Akamaru, Zabuza had simply not paid enough attention to Sasuke, who flashed through a short sequence of seals with all the skill and speed of rookie of the year. His _Katon: Housenka no Jutsu_ was perfectly executed and impeccably timed.

The barrage of fireballs went right over Kiba's head. Even as he dodged, one just grazed Zabuza's arm, the rest flying harmlessly over the pond.

Zabuza roared in fury and drew his sword, set on beheading the nearest of the little nuisances. But that just wasn't acceptable to their (now free) teacher.

-

-

A stunned silence fell over the genin and bridge builder as the Hunter-nin disappeared with Zabuza's body and Kakashi suddenly collapsed.

"O-oi! Sensei!" Kiba called, jogging over to their prone teacher and crouching next to him. "Sensei!" Poking the man did nothing, but after a moment, he remembered to check for a pulse. "Well, he's alive."

Sasuke glared. "Then, let's head out. We should try to reach the client's house as quickly as possible."

"Yeah, okay," Kizuna agreed after a moment of confused silence. Shaking her head, she picked up the half-molted rabbit, having dropped it after Zabuza appeared. The poor animal had remained frozen in terror during the commotion, and it seemed to grow even more rigid as Kizuna held it.

Oblivious to its plight – and it looked about ready to die of heart failure – she passed the rabbit to Uchiha, who took it automatically, and moved away before he could shove it back.

"Come on. I'll get his arms. Kiba, you take the legs," Kizuna instructed.

"Wait a minute!" Uchiha protested, holding the animal like it was a ticking bomb. "I'm not carrying this thing. You take it, and I'll carry Kakashi."

Kizuna frowned. "I'm stronger than you. So you get the rabbit. And if it doesn't make it to the old man's house alive and in one piece, I'm going to carve up all your shirts and sell the pieces to your fanclub."

Sasuke scowled, looking distinctly cornered. "It's just a rabbit. We don't need to bring it with us."

"I'm not leaving the poor thing out here alone. We still haven't found its owner."

With that, Kizuna hefted their prone teacher rather forcefully by the shoulders and began to march away, practically dragging Kiba along as he held up Kakashi's legs. "Well, we can always cook it," he consoled Sasuke as they followed the kunoichi.

Somehow, that failed to improve Sasuke's disposition.

"Are you even going in the right direction?" he grumbled.

(No, they weren't.)

-

-


	6. RE Wave Country 2: Training

-

-

KIZUNA

(RE) Wave Country II

-

-

The day started out rather favorably for Team Seven.

Or so the genin thought. Since they were all staying in the same house, Kakashi couldn't be late. And more importantly, he was actually going to teach them something. This was an unprecedented event!

So Kizuna, Kiba and Sasuke faced their instructor with varying degrees of excitement the morning after they finally reached Tazuna's home. Kakashi beamed. That was, in retrospect, a Very Bad sign.

"Tree climbing," he declared cheerily.

There was a moment of silence. "Tree climbing?!" Kiba demanded. "How is _that_ going to help us if Zabuza's alive and comes after us again?"

Kizuna was almost equally disgruntled, but her concern was different. "Why couldn't you teach us that before? Being able to walk up sides of buildings would have been so useful for that painting mission!"

Sasuke just crossed his arms and scowled.

"Now, now," Kakashi 'comforted' them. "Tree climbing will help you develop better chakra control, which is vital in a battle." He paused for a moment, probably trying to find some good reason to give Kizuna. Apparently coming up short, he just tossed them three kunai. "Well, get started. Concentrate chakra in your feet and hop to it!"

Eyeing him unhappily, the genin complied. Each stood in front of a tree and concentrated. As if at some signal, they all sprinted forward, with rather different results.

Sasuke made it the farthest – the farthest being seven steps – by virtue of not having some spectacular screw up. Kiba simply fell off the tree on his first step. Kizuna's attempt yielded an even more spectacular failure as the bark around her foot crumbled and her leg actually sank a bit into the trunk.

Kizuna and Kiba both groaned, rubbing the backs of their skulls, which had unceremonially met the dirt.

"Hm…" Kakashi drew out. "Well, you're all pretty pathetic. Don't they teach anything in Academy nowadays?" Ignoring the three glares he received, he continued, "Kiba, you need to actually put some chakra into your feet and concentrate of pulling yourself toward the tree. Kizuna, you need you use _less_ chakra… a lot less. You're trying to pull yourself _to_ the tree, not through it. Sasuke… Is that the best they rookie of the year can do?"

The three glares intensified, but that only made Kakashi beam brighter. "Well, then," he said casually, turning away and waving, "work hard." And he just left.

His students glared after him for a long while, before Sasuke snorted and turned back to his tree. A moment later, he was running up the trunk again, managing to raise his slash mark up by a step. Kizuna and Kiba watched him for a moment.

"Bet I can beat you to the top," Kizuna declared suddenly.

Kiba smirked. "You're on."

-

-

Kakashi didn't show up again until lunchtime, when he came to tell them food was ready and to check on their progress.

Akamaru noticed him first, looking up from he lay curled up in Kiba's discarded coat. Dropping down from their respective trees, Kiba and Sasuke favored Kakashi with two disgruntled looks, which the jounin easily ignored. Instead, he glanced up, noting how Kiba's marks seemed to be steadily gaining on Sasuke's, whose progress had slowed to barely a crawl.

Kakashi was quickly coming to expect that from his two boys. They were totally opposite in that sense, with Sasuke taking off quickly, but then slowing drastically, and Kiba slow on the start, but then progressing at an incredible pace. That difference was beginning to truly frustrate Sasuke, who couldn't understand how someone that had been so behind him could catch up so quickly.

As for the third… well, she had her own way of doing things. And speaking of her…

"Ah," Kakashi started, "where's Kizuna?"

Kiba shrugged, gesturing vaguely further into the forest. "She kept ruining the trees around here so she had to move," he explained.

Sighing, Kakashi hobbled after his last student.

She wasn't hard to find – not with the trail of cracked trees to follow. As Kakashi approached, he could see Kizuna place one foot against a tree trunk with an expression of concentration. Slowly, she leaned away from the tree, intentionally going off balance. But she didn't fall, instead held up by her foot, sticking to the tree with chakra.

Noticing her instructor, Kizuna beamed. "I think I've got it!" she declared. Of course, splitting her attention made her lose her concentration, and for a moment, she started to topple backwards. Quickly, Kizuna forced more chakra into the sole of her foot, but she pushed too far and the bark cracked apart. Pin-wheeling her arms, Kizuna tried to regain her balance, but ultimately ended up sprawling across the forest floor.

"Seems you need more work," Kakashi pointed out. "Most people start from less chakra and then use more. That's why I told you guys to start by running up trees. It's the easiest way to learn."

Kizuna huffed from her place on the ground. "It's not easiest for me!" she protested. "If I start from the bottom, I can never tell whether I'm even using chakra or not! That's like… saying you should start learning to talk by whispering as quietly as you can."

Sighing, Kakashi let it go. She was just an overly willful girl. Either she'd figure it out her way, or she'd be forced to do it like everyone else.

"Well, lunch is ready," he said instead. "You're probably hungry after damaging so many trees." Which was another reason you didn't do it like that. The amount of chakra she must have spent to do all that was probably impressive in its own way.

"Haha~! I could keep going for a while! But food would be great," Kizuna admitted cheerily. "Race you there, sensei!"

'Did she forget I'm on crutches?' Kakashi wondered.

-

-

They went right back to training after lunch. Though Kizuna tried to join Sasuke and Kiba in running up the trees, it quickly became obvious she hadn't solved her problem at all. Generally, she managed to get only two steps before breaking the tree again.

Instead, by evening, when Kakashi came to get them, she had figured out how to hang upside down from a thick branch, as long as she firmly kept her focus and paid no attention to anything else.

"Yo!" Kakashi hailed the genin, watching with some amusement as Kizuna's eyes shot open and she promptly fell off the branch. She flipped easily to land on her feet and glared faintly at him. "So, what are you doing now?" he asked, ignoring the evil look he received.

"I'm working on my concentration," Kizuna grumbled. "If I try running, I get distracted by the moving and switching feet and stuff."

"…Right," Kakashi agreed. He could see how that would work, but honestly, who had that problem? Running was supposed to be a pretty natural thing. Also, he didn't quite understand how she found it easier to hang upside down, instead of the less difficult side-ways position of climbing.

But to each their own.

Turning instead to look up at the boys, Kakashi noted their progress. Sasuke had pulled ahead again, but Kiba was quickly catching up, steadily progressing upward, in contrast to Sasuke's leaps ahead and impasses.

Both dropped down after another attempt, falling to their knees in exhaustion. Exchanging glares, they gasped for air, covered in sweat. Kakashi studied them for a moment longer before turning toward the blonde. "Since you seem to be alright, why don't you help one of your teammates?"

Kizuna – indeed just fine, despite probably hanging upside down all afternoon, which took just as much chakra – studied her teammates with a frown. They looked equally exhausted, so how was she supposed to choose? Shooting Kakashi a glance, she seemed to decide that this was another trick question and moved toward Sasuke… who looked ready to kill anyone who tried to "help" him.

Of course, the Uchiha glare had stopped working on Kizuna a long time ago. Walking up to the number one rookie, she unceremonially grabbed his arm and pulled it over her shoulders.

"I don't need your help," Sasuke protested, scowling disagreeably.

Kizuna looked at him flatly. "Well…" she drew out, "you've got it anyway." Finding no answer to that, Uchiha just glared, but his unhappy expression faltered into confusion when Kizuna suddenly beamed. "Teammates help even without being asked! That's what teamwork means!" she declared chirpily, all but dragging him toward Tazuna's house.

Kiba snorted and followed after them, picking up his jacket along the way.

After dinner, Kakashi-sensei cleared his throat to get their attention.

"Since we can't really know when Zabuza might attack, or even if Gatou will hire someone else, we'll need to keep someone on guard with Tazuna-san when he goes to work on the bridge. We'll rotate, with one of you going with him, the other two staying to train. Tomorrow, Kizuna will go, then Kiba, then Sasuke." The jounin paused, waiting for the inevitable protests.

"What? Why do I have to?" Kizuna demanded. "I want to train too!"

Kakashi frowned mildly. "Now, now, this is also teamwork!" he pointed out. "Remember, sometimes teammate have to sacrifice for each other."

"What? Two bells again?" Kizuna wondered. "Can't we do rock-paper-scissors for it or something?"

-

-

The next morning, Kakashi-sensei followed them to the forest. Kiba ignored him pointedly, feeling particularly annoyed. Akamaru had refused to come with him, pointing out that this had nothing to do with the puppy.

So what if it was true? Akamaru's betrayal still left the dog user alone with Uchiha.

Uchiha, of course, ignored him.

"Alright," Kakashi began, clapping his hands cheerfully, "judging from the marks, you two are almost equal now." He paused, lifting his hand to his chin and closing his eye.

"I wonder… which one will reach the top first? The number one rookie of the year… or the lowest scoring graduate?" Opening his eye, the jounin regarded them. "In terms of preferred way of fighting, you two are very similar after all. You use a mix of taijutsu and specialized ninjutsu… For both of you, this exercise will allow you to perform your techniques more efficiently and effectively. In a fight, that kind of skill can really tip the scales…"

Neither of the genin said anything, and after a few moments of silence, Kakashi-sensei turned around and limped away. Only after he was out of sight did the two move toward their trees, kunai in hand.

Looking at Uchiha's back, Kiba felt an irrational surge of recklessness.

"I won't lose to you!" he declared. Uchiha froze, but he didn't turn. "I'll get to the top before you, so everyone'll see that you're just the same as everyone else!"

Finally, Uchiha looked back at him over his shoulder. His glare was pure poison. "I'm nothing like you," he hissed, turning away. Without warning, he was running, trying to reach the top.

"We'll see," Kiba said, even though the other genin couldn't hear him anymore.

-

-

When Kizuna came to get them for dinner, Kiba left quickly, not wanting to spend more time around Sasuke than was necessary, especially not after the way they had spend the day baiting each other between attempts. Worse yet, Uchiha remained ahead by a small margin.

Watching him march off, Kizuna shrugged and waited for Sasuke. She fell in step with him easily, though he refused to let her nearer than three feet. "I hope we get along better than that tomorrow," she said, grinning.

The look he gave her made Kizuna bristle. "You still can't even go three steps, can you?"

"I've got it now!" Kizuna said hotly. "I practiced on some boards today at the bridge, and I'm sure I could do it now! After I can get started, moving up won't be a problem at all!"

"If dog breath can't get it, what makes you think you can?" Sasuke asked flatly.

Kizuna huffed. "It's all about focus. If I know _how_ to focus, it doesn't matter if it's three steps or thirty!"

Uchiha frowned, obviously not understanding her point. Then again, she wasn't explaining it very well.

"I know about how much chakra to use now, and how to figure out how much," she tried to explain, waving her hand. "And I know I can put that much out for a long time, without any problems. That's how I can keep hanging from a branch. But I was having trouble turning it on and off, 'cause you know, I wouldn't be able to run if I kept my feet attached to the tree all the time. I think I'm starting to get it now though. And then, it's just like walking. It becomes natural, so you never screw up."

Sasuke gave her a flat look as she nodded to herself, but he seemed thoughtful as they walked the rest of the way.

-

-

Kiba grumbled bitterly when he fetched them for dinner the next evening.

Stopping in the clearing, he looked up… and up… and up. And cursed. Uchiha had almost doubled the height of his marks during the day Kiba had been gone, pulling away far ahead.

"You!" he yelled, pointing accusingly at the Uchiha as he dropped down to the ground. "You cheated!"

Sasuke gave him the flattest, coldest look he could manage. "I did not," he denied.

"Liar!" Kiba accused.

Kizuna laughed, joining them. It took Kiba a moment to realize that meant she had gone higher than Sasuke.

"Kizna-chan!" Kiba said, turning to his other teammate. "You gave him tips, didn't you? How can you choose him over me?"

"I didn't!" she protested. Thinking for a moment, she added far too suggestively, "Well… you _were_ gone all day."

'And nothing happened,' Sasuke thought. 'I didn't say anything to her… and I don't remember anything _she_ said.' Shaking his head, he took the opportunity to leave in peace.

Kiba looked thunderstruck. "Kizuna!" he moaned. "You've gone over to the dark side! I can't believe it! You-you… fangirl!"

Pinning him with a glare, Kizuna looked deeply offended. "I am not!" she protested. "I would never betray Haruno-kun! Uchiha might be pretty, but he's totally not my type."

Kiba sighed in relief, slumping visibly. After a moment, he turned back to his teammate.

"So… How did you get it so quickly?" he asked.

"I can't do it all the time yet. If I can get into the pattern, I get pretty high, but usually, I just lose focus and fall off or put in too much," Kizuna mused.

"Oh." Kiba relaxed a little. Then, he scowled angrily, making Kizuna regard him with renewed worry.

After a few moments of intense looks, Kiba caved. "It's just that… he's totally beating me now!" he complained. "Maybe he's a genius, but still! I wanna show him that I'm not a total weakling either!"

Kizuna smiled fondly. "Yeah, I can understand that."

Laughing, she used his moment of surprise to catch Kiba in a headlock and ruffle his already messy hair.

"Well, don't worry!" she exclaimed, half releasing him, but keeping her arm around his shoulders. "We'll have all day tomorrow to catch up! We won't let him beat us! We'll reach the top too!"

"Of course!" Kiba declared, his face splitting into a grin. "He won't know what hit him!"

-

-

"Shanksh 'rot, Kishna," Kiba mumbled, the words distorted by a mouthful of food.

His teammate shot him a mildly annoyed look. "Swallow first," she instructed darkly.

Obediently, he shut his mouth, chewed for a moment, then swallowed before trying again. Kizuna was still testy about the day before, the fourth in their training, when he had refused to go back to Tazuna's house with her and trained all night instead. She couldn't be too mad since she brought him food in the morning before leaving for another stint of guard duty and again just then for dinner, but Kiba wasn't willing to take chances.

"Thanks a lot, Kizuna," he repeated, trying to sound as sincere as possible.

"You're welcome," she sighed, shooting an annoyed look at Sasuke as well, who ate wordlessly, without bothering with thanks.

For a moment, the three genin sat in silence. The two boys finished up their meal while Kizuna watched them, gently stroking the white rabbit she'd brought with her.

Swallowing the last mouthful, Kiba looked up at the sky. So far from the large cities, the sky was unbelievably clear. Filled with stars, it looked more light than dark, a negative of what they were used to seeing. The night was warm, already hinting at the beginning of summer.

His stomach full, Kiba sighed contentedly. Akamaru echoed the sound, curling up closer. After almost two full days without seeing his partner, the puppy had gotten a little lonely, and Kizuna had brought him with her too.

He was exhausted of course, but overall, Kiba felt oddly good. At the end of the day, he and Uchiha were tied, neck and neck. This was the fifth day. Tomorrow, Kiba was on guard duty again, and Sasuke might pull away. It would be the last day too, so Kiba wouldn't have a chance to catch up before they headed home, but he could always blame it on having more _real_ work than Uchiha. And when they got back to Konoha, he would be able to make it up in no time. In the end, they would both be able to walk up walls and hang from ceilings, and Kiba would always be able to point out that they were neck-and-neck getting there.

It wouldn't be quite a spectacular victory, but Kiba was willing to be happy with it. He'd come a long way, after all. In Academy, he'd been last. But now he and Uchiha were right next to each other in this. Kiba was just fine with that. Sure, he wanted to be a strong shinobi… but he wasn't obsessed in the same way Kizuna and Sasuke were. It was more Uchiha's personality and air of superiority that rubbed him the wrong way, rather than his obviously greater skill (in certain areas anyway).

His eyes shifted over to Kizuna, who looked up and smiled lazily. "What's up?" she asked.

Kiba laughed. "I was just thinking that you're a much better teammate than I expected." 'Compared to how short-tempered and disagreeable you were in Academy… except to Hyuuga and Haruno,' he thought, but knew better than to say.

"O-oh," Kizuna mumbled, blinking in surprise. Glancing away, she blushed. "Well, you're not bad yourself. Not half as crazy as everybody said!" She grinned, while Kiba twitched. So much for tact.

"Compared to you and Uchiha, I'm totally sane," he pointed out, smirking. They had to be a special kind of dysfunctional for _him_ to be the sane one. "I'm actually surprised though. I really thought my life was ruined when we got put on a team together. And we fought all the time at first. But now, we're kinda okay."

"Of course," Kizuna smiled. "We're friends now!"

It was Kiba's turn to stare in surprise. "O-oh," he said intelligently. 'Oh, that makes sense,' he thought. 'I guess I'm the same as Hyuuga now. …Sort of.' (Except that he wasn't hyper-shy and didn't have extremely low self-esteem, which meant Kizuna didn't bother tip-toeing around him the way she did with Hyuuga, like with a very shy, very delicate animal.)

"Well," he decided, "I'm glad we're friends."

The two exchanged grins. Then, the same thing occurring to them, they glanced at Sasuke, who was pointedly ignoring them.

"Don't worry, Sasuke! You're my teammate! And that's fine too! Teammates are like friends who fight together, watching each other's back!" Kizuna declared, giving him a thumbs-up. Sasuke remained completely unmoved and pointedly turned away.

Kiba snorted at that reaction. "Just give it up," he suggested. "Uchiha's a total cold fish. And a jerk."

"Yeah, but I'd still be friends with him!" Kizuna insisted. "Friends are important!"

Sasuke made some disparaging sound, but they already knew his stance on that.

'Friends are important, huh?' Kiba thought instead. 'Come to think of it, it's weird that Kizuna never had any friends before Hyuuga. She's blunt and short-tempered, but she's nice and loyal too. So why did everyone avoid her so much?'

"Friends _are _important," he agreed quietly. "You really like Hyuuga, right?"

Kizuna smiled softly. "Of course. Hinata-chan was my very first friend. Without her, I would've been alone. I probably wouldn't have met all my other friends either. So, I won't let anything happen to Hinata-chan. I'll protect her no matter what!"

"Like that thing with her cousin?" Kiba wondered, thinking back. "It was all over Academy. You broke his nose, right?"

"He deserved it, calling Hinata-chan weak," Kizuna huffed. "Anyway, everyone was just surprised since he's such a _genius_, so of course, how could _I_ have hit him?"

"How _did _you hit him?" Kiba asked, forgetting to think before talking again. "I mean, you were pretty bad in Academy."

Elbowing him in the ribs, Kizuna grumbled, "Just with the really boring kunoichi just, and the written stuff. And he was being stupid and arrogant. He wasn't taking me seriously at all, and he totally didn't expect it." She paused, the next part obviously hard to admit. "I never did manage to hit him again though…"

Uchiha snorted again, contemptuously.

Frowning, Kizuna glared at him. "I'll get him eventually," she said forcefully.

"Fools always bark the loudest," Sasuke responded, his back still to them. "You can't even begin to close that gap."

Kizuna's frown deepened, her eyebrows drawing together in anger. "That's not true! You don't know how strong I'll get! I'll show you!"

There was no response, but somehow, Sasuke managed to make even his silence sound mocking.

Scowling, Kiba jumped to his feet and pulled Uchiha up by his collar. He dragged Sasuke closer and glared at him. "Don't think you're so high and mighty! In case you haven't noticed, Kizuna and I've both grown far more than you! Sure, we might be still behind now, but how long do you think that's gonna last? At the rate we're going, we'll pass you in no time, and then where'll you be, _genius_?"

Sasuke matched his glare easily. "Keep dreaming, dog-breath," he snarled. "You'll always be a loser."

"You're asking for it, asshole!"

"Cut it out!" Kizuna cut in, standing as well. "We're supposed to be a team! Can't you two just acknowledge each other and work together like teammates? We're supposed to be able to trust each other with our _lives_."

"I don't need either of you! You'll just drag me down," Sasuke said coldly.

"If you trust _him_ with your life, you'll find yourself six feet under in no time," Kiba pointed out bitterly.

Kizuna shook her head sharply. "That's just…" Shaking her head again, she picked up her rabbit and started to walk briskly deeper into the forest.

"Kizuna!" the dog user called, pushing Uchiha away and starting after her.

"Don't follow me!" she yelled back.

And then, she was gone. 'Should we go after her?' Kiba wondered, sharing a glance with Akamaru. The puppy shook his head. 'If I'm lucky, she'll only break my nose,' Kiba thought, agreeing silently. 'I guess she wants to be alone for a while.'

Sasuke looked almost ready to say something, but as he opened his mouth, Kiba spun around without warning and punched him in the face. The surge of satisfaction he felt at the contact had a bitter edge. Some teammates they were. None of them could understand each other at all.

-

-

Kizuna spent the night sulking in the forest, with only a terrified rabbit for company. 'I always wanted a team, but somehow it just doesn't seem to be working,' she thought a little glumly. 'I… thought we might be friends, but we can't even work together as teammates.'

Stroking the rabbit gently, she sighed. 'Kiba's nice enough but I don't know what to do when he fights with Sasuke. I… never had this problem before. Hinata-chan never fights with Lee or Tenten-nee, and Neji's not really so much a friend… How am I supposed to deal with this?'

Toward morning, she dozed off, waking only when someone carefully shook her shoulder. For a moment, she wondered which one of her team had come looking for her before realizing that it was probably neither. Her teammates just weren't like that. They weren't like Hinata, who would have worried and come looking, and woken her gently like this.

Squinting groggily, Kizuna sat up and rubbed her eyes. The other person pulled back their hand and moved away slowly.

"Good morning," the stranger greeted. "You shouldn't sleep out in the open like this. You might catch a cold."

The young woman was very pretty. With silky dark hair and unblemished pale skin, she was like Hinata, but where Hinata was shy, this girl was calm and composed. Girls like that tended to evoke a very deeply hidden twinge of jealousy in Kizuna, who knew she'd never fit that ideal of beauty and femininity. Not that she wanted to.

But at that point, Kizuna had something else on her mind. She smiled at the stranger. "Thanks. I'll be careful," she promised. Nodding to a small basked nearby, she asked, "Are you gathering flowers?"

The stranger smiled. "Herbs. They're… to help someone important to me."

'They're medical,' Kizuna noted. "I'll help," she volunteered cheerfully. "I have a friend who makes medical creams and stuff, and I helped her lots of times!"

As they set to work, the stranger glanced at her. "That headband," she began. "Are you some kind of ninja?"

"Yeah," Kizuna replied brightly. "I'm only a beginner now, but I'm gonna become the best."

"Why… do you want to be strong?"

"There are a lot of reasons," Kizuna replied, not looking up from the plants. "I want to prove something, and there are some things I want to be able to do."

The other girl turned to look at her, and Kizuna met her eyes evenly. She smiled.

"Is there someone precious to you that you wish to protect?" the stranger asked, smiling as well.

"Yup!" Kizuna beamed. "You too, right?" Receiving a nod, she cocked her head to one side. "You're really nice. So… how did you end up here? In Wave Country?"

The stranger stared at her in surprise for a moment. "I… traveled here with someone important to me."

"Oh, for work? And they got hurt? That's tough," Kizuna said guilelessly. She might have gone too far with that one because the other girl only continued to watch her carefully. Regardless, Kizuna forged on, "Well, you might want to look for other work. I hear the guy running things around here is a lousy boss. He's always turning on his workers and refusing to pay them even when they get the job done."

"Is that so?" the stranger asked mildly.

"Yup," Kizuna nodded. "It wouldn't be good if a pretty girl like you got hurt."

"You know," the pretty girl said slowly, "I'm male."

Kizuna blinked in surprise. 'What? She's almost prettier than Hinata-chan!' Then, she smiled. "Oh, I didn't realize. It's just that you're so short, and your hair is so pretty, and your voice is really feminine too!"

'Just like someone else I met a week ago,' Kizuna thought sarcastically. 'I'm pretty good at remembering people I need to stay away from, even when they hide their face. Masks don't do much if you don't change everything else.' Mind you, the villagers had never really figured that out.

"Well, if you're going out of Wave Country," and Kizuna decisively ignored that the _boy_ had never said anything like that, "could you take this bunny with you? I found him on the way here, but I can't keep him. So here you go!"

Kizuna held out the rabbit to him, and he accepted carefully, shifting his basked into the crook of one arm. Watching him walk away slowly, Kizuna could only think, 'What a mess.'

-

-

The next morning, sixth and last day of their training, Sasuke found himself more or less kicked out of Tazuna's house to look for Kizuna. Between the looks Kakashi was giving him, Kiba's heavily implied threats to claw his eyes, and Tsunami's blatant concern, he didn't really have any choice.

Kizuna was easy to find. She hadn't gone very far from their training place, and her orange clothes stood out vividly. Sasuke lingered just beyond the clearing she was sitting in, trying to come up with some plan. Ultimately, it was a moot point as Kizuna noticed him first.

"Uchiha," she greeted a little distantly. She seemed thoughtful or maybe just still angry as she walked past him without hesitation, leaving Sasuke to catch up.

Falling in step with her as they walked toward Tazuna's house, Sasuke studied her for any sign of injury. Somehow, he was sure that he would get blamed if something was wrong. "What happened to the rabbit?" he asked finally.

Kizuna smiled a little crookedly. "Oh, I returned it to its owner," she replied.

"Are you sure it was the real owner?" Sasuke wondered, trying to imagine the kind of coincidence that would take. 'Didn't we decide it was a distraction?' he remembered.

Kizuna looked thoughtful for a moment. "Pretty sure," she confirmed.

'And what does that mean?' Sasuke thought to himself, but he didn't see a point in asking her anything else. 'Well, it doesn't matter anyway.'

They walked the rest of the way in silence.

"Hey, Kizuna," Kiba began reluctantly as they settled around the table for breakfast, which Tusnami had refused to begin before Kizuna returned. "I… uh… Sorry!" He shuddered as if the admission was physically painful and peered at Kizuna to judge her reaction.

Kizuna beamed brightly in return, shaking off whatever had been on her mind when Sasuke found her. "It's fine!" she declared. "I understand! Even though we're teammates, it's only natural that we'll fight sometimes! You and Sasuke just need to get to know each other better! If you get to understand and respect each other, we'll be fine!"

The two boys blanched, in different degrees. Shooting each other horrified and disgruntled looks, they sneered and quickly turned away. But in the face of Kizuna's bright smile, Kiba didn't dare protest, only sighing defeatedly.

"So!" Kizuna continued, "I'll take Kiba's guard duty today! I can practice on the bridge, so it'll all be fine! And you two can get to know each other!"

'I don't _want_ to know him,' both boys thought simultaneously. Instead of saying anything, they turned to Kakashi-sensei, but…

Kakashi just beamed and shot them knowing and overly cheerful looks. 'Stupid scarecrow bastard,' they thought.

After Tazuna and Kizuna left, Kiba snarled something nasty at Sasuke under his breath and stalked off, somehow angrier than before. Sasuke followed more slowly. Though his expression remained studiously blank, he was equally unhappy with the situation.

_"Kizuna and I've both grown far more than you!"_ Kiba had said, and Sasuke could see what he meant. Inuzuka, and Uzumaki too, had been the lowest of their class. But now, on mission and in the field, they were more than pulling their weight. They were almost matching Sasuke.

Somehow, the insurmountable gap between them had disappeared.

_"We might be still behind now, but we'll pass you in no time!"_

'No,' Sasuke thought, grinding his teeth. He refused to let that happen.

Their moods only worsened as the day passed. Kiba – because he remained just a bit _behind Sasuke_, Sasuke – because Kiba remained _just a bit_ behind him.

That evening, Kizuna didn't come to get them, whether to give them more "bonding time" or at Kakashi's suggestion. But maybe that was for the best. They kept training into the night, Kiba too stubborn to stop, even as he stumbled, Sasuke too proud to give in while his teammate kept going.

After the moon had risen, they both finally made it to the top. Together, at the same time.

Inuzuka clung to his tree top, barely awake, too tired to even gloat. At least Sasuke could still stand - it was the only consolation he had at that point. Looking at Kiba, Sasuke knew he wouldn't be able to make it down unassisted.

'I can imagine what Kakashi would say if I left him there,' Sasuke thought sourly. Kizuna… well, she probably wouldn't _say_ anything, but her fist would definitely be involved in her reaction.

He could just hear them in his mind. Back when he first tested them as genin, Kakashi had said, _"You're a team! It's necessary for ninja to have individual skills, but what is even more important now is teamwork!"_

Sometimes, Sasuke strongly suspected that by Kakashi's standards, both Inuzuka and Uzumaki were far better shinobi than him, even if neither could match him alone. Not that he would end up fighting either one alone. He knew they would take each other's side always.

Even thought Kizuna said, _"We're supposed to be a team! Teammates are like friends who fight together, watching each other's back!"_

'What a joke,' Sasuke thought bitterly. 'Teammate, friend… it's all meaningless. I've got no need for either one…'

(_"…kill your closest friend..."_)

Taking a deep breath, Sasuke shifted his weight so that the tree top swayed away from Inuzuka then back again. As he swung close again, he leapt across the gap, landing just below the other genin on his tree, making it waver dangerously.

Inuzuka looked down at him blearily, only half awake. "Whadda ya wan'?" he slurred.

"Come on," Sasuke said quietly. "Let's head back."

-

-


	7. RE Wave Country 3: End

-

-

KIZUNA

(RE) Wave Country III

-

-

Savoring a bite of wonderful, home-cooked rice, Kizuna shot Uchiha a quick glance. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion as she studied her teammate. 'It's not anything big but… it seems like there's something different about him,' she thought. 'He seems smug.'

It was the morning of the seventh day after Zabuza's "death" and their subsequent arrival at old man Tazuna's house. (On a side note, Tsunami-san's cooking was almost as delicious as Ichiraku ramen, and although Kizuna would never admit it to anyone, she was glad for the variety.)

Late the night before, or maybe early that morning, Sasuke and Kiba had stumbled in, both barely able to stay on their feet. Actually, Uchiha had barely been able to stay on his feet. Kiba had completely lost the ability, leaning heavily against the other.

'Kiba said they both reached the top, that it was a tie. But Sasuke was in better shape, so I guess he kind of won,' Kizuna realized, sweat-dropping a little.

In fact, although Uchiha was sitting next to her and smugly eating his breakfast, Kiba was still asleep in the guest room.

"Is he going to be all right?" Tsunami asked, shooting a worried glance in the general direction of the room. "He's usually the first to the table…"

Kakashi-sensei didn't even bother to look up from studying his meal (Tsunami had forbidden him from reading his perverted book at the table). "It's just chakra exhaustion. He should be awake later today or early tomorrow."

"Thank you for meal!" Kizuna exclaimed, giving their hostess a heartfelt smile. "It was delicious!"

Tsunami smiled and nodded at her and Sasuke, who had also finished and said his thanks, albeit more quietly. Somehow, Kakashi-sensei had also finished, without anyone catching even a glimpse of his face.

The three shinobi and their client stood and headed out.

"Well then, we'll be off. If Kiba wakes up, tell him to stay here and rest," the jounin instructed.

As the four of them walked toward the construction site, Kizuna fell in step with Sasuke, deciding that this was as good time as any to ask some questions she had been thinking over all week.

"Hey, hey, Uchiha!" she called, waving to get his attention. Automatically, he glared in her direction. "I wanted to ask about before. In the fight with Zabuza, the stupid bastard called Kakashi-sensei 'of the Sharingan,' and Kiba acted like that had something to do with you..." Gesturing vaguely, Kizune frowned and searched for words. Unable to find anything, she finished in a rush. "What was that all about?"

For a moment, Sasuke remained silent, studying the well-worn road they were walking on. Just as Kizuna was about to give up hope of an answer, he began. "The Sharingan is the blood-limit of the Uchiha clan. Of my clan."

"A blood-limit?" Kizuna repeated. 'Kekkai genkai, a superior genealogy – a technique possible only through an advanced bloodline, passed down from your ancestors,' she thought. 'It's like Hinata-chan's Byakugan.' She was more than familiar with the Hyuuga clan's white eyes and what they meant.

Sasuke's expression was distant. "It's a technique that manifests mainly through the eyes, allowing a ninja to predict an opponent's attacks, to see through and copy their techniques. Kakashi's isn't natural, though. I think it may have been surgically transplanted…"

Kizuna raised an eyebrow. 'Where'd he get it, I wonder?'

"That's why he was so weak after using it," Sasuke continued. "Using the technique drains chakra, of course, but it's worse for Kakashi because his body isn't Uchiha. The Sharingan may only manifest through the eyes, but the bloodline runs through the entire body."

Nodding, Kizuna peered at him thoughtfully. Everybody who was Hyuuga was born with their eyes, but Sasuke's dark irises didn't look any different from, say, Chouji. "Do you…?" she began.

His mouth thinned into a severe line. "No," he replied curtly. "The Sharingan has to be awakened, usually in a combat situation, often life or death."

"So it'll come when you need it?"

For the first time since the beginning of their conversation, Sasuke regarded her seriously, eyes full of suspicion. "Most likely," he allowed.

"That's good." Beaming, Kizuna looked away, straight ahead. Even without looking, she could imagine his 'what the hell are you _on_' expression. "I'm glad that you're strong," she continued, stubbornly looking ahead. "I'm glad that Kiba-kun is strong too."

("Hmph," Sasuke snorted but didn't protest further.)

"More than anything, I want to become strong so that I can protect the people I care about," she confided. "Hinata-chan, Haruno-kun, Tenten-nee, and Kiba-kun and you… My list of precious people used to be empty, but now it's growing… The 'strong' I want to be is the kind of 'strong' it takes to protect you. But also… I want all of you to be strong too, so that even if I'm not strong enough, you'll be able to protect yourselves."

Closing her eyes, she beamed at him, "That's why I'm glad that you have that strength, even if you haven't found it yet."

She turned away quickly, suddenly feeling just a bit embarrassed. 'He's not Hinata-chan, but I still got all mushy around him,' she thought. 'We're not even properly friends! Kiba's so much easier to deal with!'

Kizuna expected another cold insult, or at least a sneer…

But Sasuke didn't say anything

-

-

Kiba groaned, just barely managing to lift his hand and run it across his face. It felt like every one of muscles was sore, all the way down to his bones. All too clearly, his body was telling him that he was not ready to rejoin the living world as of yet.

His dog, however, disagreed.

Akamaru barked again, oddly muted but loud enough to pierce through the returning fog of sleep/unconsciousness, and tugged at the sleeve of his partner's t-shirt. In response, Kiba groaned again, rolling over and propping himself up on one elbow.

"'m up…" he slurred. "Wha…"

Akamaru whined urgently, his response grabbing Kiba's attention forcefully. The genin's eyes shot open as he dragged a deep breath and forced himself to move.

"What? Enemies in the house? Two samurai? Tsunami-san and the brat hostage?" he repeated Akamaru's info, stumbling to his feet and reaching for his kunai pouch. "I'm on it."

There were two enemies, both wannabe samurai and total flunkies. But, in his condition, even the wannabe flunkies presented a challenge. In the end, the best Kiba could think of was to let Akamaru handle them, with a quick (but still draining and painful) Juujin Bunshin.

Even as Akamaru-turned-Kiba made short work of the samurai flunkies, the real Kiba slid to the floor, groaning quietly. So this was what real chakra exhaustion felt like. It made all those times Kizuna drove him into the ground seem almost pleasant. And that technique drew most of the power from Akamaru…

'Damnit. Kizuna, I'll never ignore your advice again…' he promised.

Leaning heavily against the wall, the genin pulled himself to his feet. Tsunami-san and Inari looked up at him in surprise from where they had fallen to the floor, the mother was comforting her son. Judging from their horrified stares, he looked as bad as he felt.

"I-Inuzuka-kun!" Tsunami-san protested, half rising. "You shouldn't be out of bed yet! Are you all right?"

Taking another step forward and stumbling, Kiba grimaced. Akamaru whined in concern as he transformed back into his natural form. "Not really," the genin admitted, trying to stand without the wall's support. "But that's not important. Where are the others? At the bridge?"

"Yes, but you can't possibly…"

"Get to your neighbors'," Kiba cut her off. "I doubt Gatou sent anyone else, but get out of here all the same. I'm going to the bridge. That's where the real battle is."

"You're in no shape to fight. You'll just die!"

Bless their soft civilian hearts for worrying, Kiba thought, but really, he was shinobi. "That doesn't matter! What are the other choices? To run and die later? It's all the same, but then you won't even have pride! To let my teammates fight alone and maybe lose and maybe die?! Yeah, right! A ninja isn't a coward!"

Kizuna was right. Pep-talks helped, even if your only audience was you. Just putting those feelings into words gave you a little extra power. With a surge of adrenaline and pure stubbornness, Kiba pushed off the wall and dashed outside, searching through his pack as he went.

He'd feel like shit later, maybe even die, but that didn't matter now. Without stopping for second thoughts, he cracked the soldier pill and swallowed.

-

-

As Kakashi-sensei had predicted, Zabuza was waiting for them at the bridge. The "hunter-nin" from before was with him, and Kizuna looked him over carefully one more time. The height, the build, the hair-style, the voice were all spot on for the young _man_ she'd met in the woods.

'What should I do?' Kizuna wondered. 'He seemed so nice. I really don't want…'

"That masked one is obviously Zabuza's comrade after all," Kakashi commented.

'And Zabuza must be that person he wants to protect,' Kizuna thought. Glancing between her teammate, her teacher and her client, she quickly came to a decision.

"I'll fight him," she declared. Before either Sasuke or Kakashi could say anything, she added, "Sasuke just finished training yesterday. Even if he's better off then Kiba, he's not at a hundred percent."

Although he regarded her seriously for a moment, Kakashi nodded his consent. 'Kunoichi are supposed to be good at infiltration, so "bullshit" is practically a core course,' Kizuna thought with a bit of irony. 'Never thought I'd be grateful for those "girly" extra classes.'

Sasuke glared at her a little, but Kizuna just grinned in reply. "I'm trusting you with our client!" she declared, stepping forward boldly.

She was just in time as the masked boy suddenly disappeared from Zabuza's side. His speed was incredible, Kizuna thought, but only afterward, as she automatically moved to block him. It was close, and he was obviously faster, but Kizuna thought she had him matched in physical strength at least.

"I don't want to have to kill you, but you won't stand down, will you?" the masked boy commented as their weapons locked.

"No, I won't. And you won't either," Kizuna agreed. She smiled faintly. "But, you really are kind, aren't you?"

The boy paused. "You shouldn't think about that," he advised. "Not when I already have two advantages over you."

'Two?' Kizuna wondered, but then she realized what he meant as he quickly flashed through hand seals… with just one hand. As he tapped the bridge with one foot, the water around them rose into the air, forming a barrage of needles.

Jumping away, Kizuna retaliated with a handful of shuriken. 'No explosive tags on the bridge,' she thought, unhappily.

"Haku," Zabuza said slowly. "You're holding back. At this rate, we'll be driven back."

"Let's go!" Kizuna yelled, rushing at the masked boy – _Haku_ – even as he formed a single seal, and a strange chakra surrounded him.

'It's cold,' she thought a moment before the water around her began to rise, forming sheets of ice that caged her in. Stopping in surprise, she watched as Haku entered into one the ice mirrors and, suddenly, his image appeared in every single one.

Cursing, Kakashi rushed toward his student, but Zabuza cut him off quickly, getting in between him and Kizuna. "I'm your opponent," he said mockingly. "Get by me and I'll get the old man and the boy."

Then, Haku attacked. Kizuna bit back a yell as suddenly senbon needles were flying from all directions, cutting into her from all sides. 'This is worse than Tenten-nee's weapon hell!' she thought, instinctively ducking her head and raising her arms.

Seeing her situation, Sasuke threw a trio of kunai at the nearest mirror. Haku deflected them easily, leaning half-out of the ice and, as Kizuna used her own shuriken from the inside, he knocked away those easily as well.

'How is he doing that?' she wondered. 'One side, other side, it's like a magic trick!'

"An advanced bloodline," Kakashi muttered, glancing between them.

'Is he… worried about me?' Kizuna wondered. That was… nice. Really nice, but she didn't appreciate it much just then.

"Kakashi-sensei!" she yelled. "What are you doing? There's a threat to our client right in front of you! He's already said he isn't going to back down, so why haven't you taken him out yet?!"

"You should worry more about yourself, girl," Zabuza suggested. "You can't win against Haku."

"I don't need to beat him!" Kizuna declared. "Kakashi-sensei's going to beat you, and then he and Sasuke will beat your Haku. You're the ones who have no hope of winning!" Staring at the one image of Haku in the mirrors, Kizuna smirked. "And don't think I'm going down easy. The reason I went is because I'm the hardest to kill. You're going to have to do a lot more than this…"

Raising one hand slowly, she wiped away the blood from a cut across her cheek. Haku followed the movement, and she knew he could see that, underneath, the wound had already stopped bleeding. She could feel him looking closer at the rest of her cuts and noticing that they were already healing too.

"It healed..?" he murmured. "But how?"

Zabuza laughed. "It doesn't matter how good a medic you are. Even your Kakashi-sensei can't beat Haku. I've taught him all kinds of combat skills. His techniques surpass even mine."

"It doesn't matter!" Kizuna insisted. "Kakashi-sensei will beat you. And even if your Haku beats all of us… there's going to be anything like a victory after that!" Meeting Haku's eyes, she said firmly, "You can't win."

"You're assuming that I'll die that easily… and that you'll last that long," Zabuza said. "Your entire plan falls apart, if Haku simply kills you and together, we take out your sensei."

"Becoming a true shinobi is difficult for me, but… to achieve my dream, I will carve out my heart and become a true shinobi," Haku promised quietly.

Kizuna grinned. "That's true. But when it comes to killing people, I'm betting on Kakashi-sensei."

"Well, if my student has so much faith in me, I can't afford to waste time," Kakashi said a little wryly, one hand reaching for his crooked hitai-ate. "This'll be over quickly."

Instantly, Zabuza charged, a kunai in his hand aimed to take advantage of Kakashi's position. Blood spattered across the bridge as Kakashi blocked with his bare hand, letting the weapon pierce though his palm. Then, the jounin jumped apart, each already making their next move.

Sasuke's eyes bored into Kakashi's back as it, and he, disappeared into the suddenly-thickening mist, knowing that his clan's eye was revealed now. 'The Sharingan,' he thought. 'But how much good can it do in mist as thick as this? If it's caused by a jutsu and completely filled with chakra, it'll be even more disorienting…'

Frowning, Sasuke stepped back, closer to Tazuna. "Stay close to me," he ordered shortly.

But no matter how much Sasuke strained his eyes, he couldn't see anything through the fog. He didn't notice Zabuza's approach as the Mist-nin appeared behind him and the client, sword already raised to strike.

"Look out!" Kakashi yelled, catching Sasuke by surprise. Even as the genin spun around, Kakashi had moved between the client and Zabuza, planning to use himself as a shield. But at the last moment, Zabuza suddenly pulled back, his sword barely cutting into Kakashi's vest.

Moving back, Zabuza barely avoided the full brunt of Kiba's flying Tsuuga. Instead, the attack clipped him across one shoulder before slamming into the bridge and digging a shallow furrow in the concrete. Flipping to land on his feet facing the enemy, Kiba bared his fangs.

But Zabuza was already fading into the mist again.

"Kiba," Kakashi said in surprise, but his eyes narrowed as he guessed what had happened and how the genin was moving despite his pitiful state that morning. Still, there was no time for reprimands just then, no matter how displeased he was.

"How did you find us?" Sasuke asked.

Kiba shook his head. "Smelled you. Kakashi-sensei, Zabuza-"

Cutting him off, Kakashi nodded sharply. "I know," he said sharply. "Guard the client. I'm going to end this fight."

Then, he too ran back into the mist. Kiba glanced at Sasuke. "Kizuna's fighting someone," he said, almost like a question.

Sasuke nodded. "Stay here. I'm going to help her."

"Why you?"

"I'm useless like this. I can't… I didn't notice Zabuza at all," he admitted through clenched teeth. "With her, I can…"

Shaking his head again, Sasuke ran in the direction of Haku's ice mirror dome. His hands flashed through the hand seals of Goukakyu no Jutsu, and as the mirrors became visible, he released the technique, breathing out a large flame.

But the technique had no effect.

"A flame of that level won't work," Haku's reflection said quietly as Kizuna peered between the gaps in the mirrors.

"Sasuke? What are you doing? What about old man Tazuna?" she asked. She was breathing a little heavily and covered in blood now, Sasuke noted.

"Kiba's guarding him. He'll be able to smell if Zabuza comes close," Sasuke explained. "It doesn't matter anyway. Kakashi-sensei is going to end it now."

Inside his mirrors, Haku shifted uneasily. "Zabuza-san is not that easy to defeat," he protested, but both the genin could hear the slight note of unease in his voice.

"Kakashi-sensei is a former Anbu member," Sasuke said coldly. "He is a genius who became a shinobi at five, a chuunin at six and a jounin at twelve." He smirked, meeting Haku's eyes. "And, he's a tracking specialist. Blood has a very strong smell, you know."

As he had expected, Haku wavered for a moment. Kizuna spoke up as well, "You want to protect that Zabuza, right? He's someone who is important to you. So, shouldn't you be by his side? I told you, even if you beat us, you won't win."

Haku trembled faintly as the air shifted. The fog had been released. A faint sound, almost like chirping reached them, and suddenly, Haku was gone, his mirrors falling to pieces as he dashed away faster than they could follow.

With a squeak of surprise, Kizuna threw her hands over her head as shards of ice fell toward her, but the only thing that hit her head were fat drops of ice-cold water. As she shook her head to clear away the moisture, she and Sasuke exchanged glances.

"Kizuna! Uchiha!" Kiba's voice carried through the thinning fog. "Kakashi-sensei!"

Peering in the direction of his voice, Kizuna gasped in surprise. Kakashi was on the ground, Haku on top of him, having bodily tackled him to throw off Raikiri. The attack had missed, grazing Zabuza's shoulder, which was bleeding heavily now, and almost beheading one of Kakashi's dogs, who had disappeared just in time.

Haku flipped away to stand protectively in front of Zabuza while Kakashi rolled to his feet to face them. All three looked distinctly worse for wear.

Suddenly, Sasuke let out a sharp hiss, looking at something behind Kizuna, at other end of the bridge. The fog was still thick there, and for a moment, Kizuna wasn't sure what she was seeing. Then, the mist shifted, disappearing a little, and she drew a shocked breath.

From beyond the unfinished edge, rough men were emerging, swarming like locust.

"What the hell?" Kizuna voiced intelligently. "A thug army?"

"They must have come by boat," Sasuke mused. With a quick glance behind them, he tried to calculate their options. 'We can't just run. With Zabuza and Haku still there, we might get caught in the crossfire. We're between a rock and a hard place…'

Then, a different figure appeared – a neat, well groomed man in a business suit and round sunglasses.

"Gatou?" Zabuza growled. "Why are you here? And what's with all these men?"

The businessman's small eyes evaluated the gathered shinobi thoughtfully before he smirked. "Hehe, the plan has changed. Well, actually, I planned to do this from the very beginning… I'm going to have you killed here, Zabuza."

"What?" Zabuza demanded, taking an angry step toward the tycoon as Haku moved closer to him, trying to face both threats.

"Hiring a normal ninja from a Hidden Village is expensive, and they may betray me, so I use you missing-nins, who are easy to take care of afterwards," Gatou explained, in a clipped, annoyed tone, as if discussing an underproductive branch of business. "I have the ninja battle each other and, once they're weakened, I kill them off with numbers. It doesn't cost me anything. Good plan, isn't it?"

The thugs behind Gatou roared a battle cry. "We can kill you easily now!" they taunted.

Zabuza let out a humorless chuckle. "Now I have no reason to go after the old man. This fight is over."

"Zabuza-san?" Haku asked, glancing back at him. Frowning, Zabuza met his eyes for a moment before glancing consideringly between the Konoha nins, Gatou and the thugs.

Finally, he nodded.

Kizuna let out a sound of surprise as the two missing-nin suddenly took off, almost too fast to follow, flashing in and out down the bridge, away from Gatou and his hired army. Kiba moved toward them, but Kakashi called out, "Stay with the client!"

Gatou snorted as Zabuza and Haku disappeared into the fog. "Some demon, that Zabuza. Well, it doesn't matter." Moving back, into the crowd of thugs, he waved negligently at Team 7. "Kill them."

As both Kizuna and Sasuke jumped back in a defensive stance, the Konoha shinobi all tried to evaluate their situation. Their client, Tazuna, and Kiba were the furthest from the threat and their path of retreat was open. If things got too bad, they could run across the bridge back to land and maybe escape. But Kiba wasn't in the best of shape – every muscle was tense, and once in a while, small shudders would pass through his entire frame, almost like miniature spasms. He would still fight viciously though.

Kakashi was between Kiba and the other two genin, who stood closest to the thugs. The jounin hated to admit it, but his chakra reserves were closer to empty now, after both a special summoning and Raikiri. Against the sort of numbers Gatou had brought, he could potentially be in real danger.

Sasuke was in the best shape of their team, only a little sore after his training the night before. Next to him, Kizuna was ready to fight as well, but Sasuke wasn't sure how well she really was. Covered in blood and with several senbon sticking out of her, she looked distinctly worn.

'What are we going to do?' the thought flashed through his mind, but then, Sasuke smirked. "Looks like we're going to do what we were hired for after all," he said, with surprising calm. "Protecting the client from a bunch of over-glorified bandits was our C-rank, after all."

Suddenly, he flashed through the seals for Goukakyu no Jutsu, the giant fireball engulfing the thugs before they even knew what was happening.

"Fall back!" Kakashi ordered, and for a moment, it seemed like they might obey. But instead of retreating, Kizuna simply moved back and threw several shuriken with deadly accuracy.

Sasuke simply ignored the order, dashing into the crowd of mercenaries. Many fell back in confusion, several horribly burned by his jutsu. One swung a sword, another a spear, and then they were attacking from all directions.

But they weren't ninja. And Sasuke wasn't interested in them. Dodging the weapons, he continued forward, rushing toward his real target. Still, sometimes, they came entirely too close. It was just like they had been taught in the Academy – numbers could overwhelm skill, just as they'd done the first time with Zabuza.

With so many, Sasuke suddenly, chillingly realized he might actually die. His teammates were too far away to help – through his own rashness. He could just make out Kizuna's furious yells. But he had to do this. He was the only one that could make sure their mission was a success.

And, somehow, it was becoming easier and easier to see their movements.

Neatly dodging attacks from three different opponents – he could see them coming, as if everything had suddenly slowed – Sasuke caught a glimpse of his target. Just a little further now…

Gatou saw him coming and tried to scramble away, but he had no chance.

_"There are eight targets. Throat, spinal column, lungs, liver, jugular vein, subclavian artery, kidney, heart."_

To kill Gatou, Sasuke only needed one. He aimed for the heart, but really, a good shot to the lungs would do. As his kunai stabbed into the man, drops of blood spattered across Sasuke's face. He twisted the knife and dragged it through the flesh to cause as much damage as possible.

Finally pulling his kunai out, Sasuke jumped away as Gatou gurgled wetly and collapsed.

He wasn't sure what to feel, but there wasn't time to worry.

For a seemingly endless moment, everyone was silent. "You bastard!" One of the hired thugs yelled, breaking the silence. "How the hell are we gonna get paid now?!"

The others yelled affirmatives behind him, growing louder in their mutual anger as they circled Sasuke, cutting off any escape route.

"Kill him!"

"He's just one brat!"

Lifting his head, Sasuke glared and the mercenaries closest to him shuddered a little. They paused – that moment was enough.

"Gatsuuga!" With a yell, a spiral of silver energy plowed into the crowd, throwing the thugs aside bodily.

As Sasuke dodged out of the way, the jutsu plowed into the ground and two Kibas tumbled away. Both landed on their feet, but one collapsed to his knees immediately, and Sasuke knew right away that this was the real one. Grabbing his teammate by the arm, he bodily hauled Kiba back through the opening he and Akamaru had created in the mercenaries.

Catching on, several thugs tried to block their way, but Akamaru, still in Kiba's form shoved them out of the way. As the end came in sight, shurikens struck several thugs, courtesy of Kizuna, who came charging in after her weapons. Shoving Kiba toward her, Sasuke flipped through hand seals quickly.

The second Goukakyu no Jutsu caught their enemies just as much by surprise as the first, and the genin were able to scramble away quickly. Though the genin easily outpaced the mercenaries once in the clear, the thugs continued to charge after them as they ran toward Kakashi and Tazuna.

Suddenly, a shower of arrows cut the mercenaries off, several yelling in pain as they dropped to the ground. The fog had lifted almost completely now, and behind Tazuna stood an army of villagers, armed and ready to fight.

"If you come any further onto our island, we, the citizens of this county, will stop you with everything we've got!" they yelled.

As his students scrambled to stand behind him, Kakashi sighed a little and formed a hand seal. 'Well, it's not much, but this might fool them…' he thought.

In a cloud of smoke, an entire squad of Kakashis appeared to support the villagers. Glancing at them, Sasuke raised an eyebrow. 'They're just illusions,' he thought.

But the illusions were enough to convince the mercenaries that this job wasn't worth it anymore. Their boss was dead, and they were facing rather bad odds. Sure, the villagers didn't know how to fight. Sure, the ninja were injured. Sure, the villagers and the ninja would go down eventually… but how many would they take with them?

"Screw this! I'm out of here!" someone yelled amongst the thugs, and then they were all retreating, back to their ship.

"We did it!" the villagers cheered.

Kizuna dropped to ground, her knees giving out in relief. Since she was pretty much the only thing holding him up, Kiba collapsed with her, as Akamaru poofed back to his own form, panting. Smirking a little, Sasuke crouched next to them.

Looking up, Kizuna beamed at him before her eyes widened in surprise. "Sasuke! Your eyes… they're red! With dots!"

"Sharingan?" Sasuke whispered to himself, his smirk widening. A low chuckled escaped him, and Kizuna joined as well, laughing in happiness and relief.

Glancing at them, Kakashi shook his head and decided to wait a bit with his lecture.

"Father? Are you alright?" Tsunami asked, running up to them. Tazuna smiled at her and nodded. Sighing in relief, she looked past them to the end of the bridge, which was now cracked in places from the battles and where several bodies now lay. "And Gatou?" she wondered.

Before Tazuna could reply, Kakashi said calmly, "He was killed by the Mist missing-nins he hired because he refused to pay them. Seems he'd been planning to double-cross them all along. They took their revenge… and escaped in the confusion."

His students stared at him in surprise at the lie, and Kakashi gave them a look that promised much suffering in the future. 'I suppose I can try to present it as part of the mission… maybe,' he thought, already imaging the headache that would be the report for this mission.

The brats had the gall to look insolent. But damn if he wasn't a little proud of them.

-

-


	8. Before Exam 1

A/N: I have absolutely no motivation… and I think it shows…

Tazuna named the bridge "Bond" because Kizuna's name means "a bond between people." …I think. Actually, **an important note**, I screwed up on Haruno's name. I wanted to use the name from Cardcaptor Sakura, where Sakura's brother is named Touya, but when I looked it up in my kanji dictionary, "peach blossom" was actually "touka." So Haruno-boy's name is now Touka. I've gone back and replaced it in all the other chapters too. So, yeah… sorry.

Also, **Anerwyn** is my new god. I know about NarutoFan already, but the super long review was very much appreciated. I realize that –kun is a suffix for boys, but for some reason, I thought it was cute for Hinata to say "Kizna-kun." There's probably a joke in there about Kizuna being overly boyish. I dunno… I just like it, so it stays.

Also, a small art of Touka and Kizuna now up on my deviantart (homepage in bio).

Now, …pointless character interactions!..

-

-

Chapter the Seventh

-

-

"Alright. That's that for this mission," Kakashi-sensei drawled, sounding half-relieved, half-exhausted. He paused for a moment, turning his lazy half-gaze on the genin. "Next time, try not to destroy half of the client's house," he suggested flatly.

Kiba glared as the jounin disappeared in a puff of smoke. Scowling, he spun around to face his male teammate. "This is all your fault, Uchiha!" he accused. The other genin shot him a passive-angry look, managing to say 'what are you talking about?' and 'leave me alone' and 'you're an idiot' all at the same time.

Yes, Uchiha was _so_ talented.

"If you weren't such an asshole, we'd be able to finish the mission without any problems!" Kiba continued, getting even more annoyed.

Uchiha snorted. "If you weren't an idiot, I wouldn't need to point it out. And you're the one who caused the most damage with Tsuuga."

"So what! It's your fault! And you're the one who burned down the living room with Goukakyuu!" Kiba retaliated. He turned to his other teammate for support, "Right, Kizna-chan?"

"Hm?" the blonde turned back to look at him over her shoulder, already several feet away. Crossing her arms, she gave them a fair imitation of Kakashi's flat look. "You're both testosterone-driven morons. Full points for acting like toddlers."

Kiba mock-cried, feeling mildly abandoned, while Uchiha scowled darkly. "It's not like you have any right to talk," he bit back. "The only reason you didn't destroy anything this time was because you were too busy daydreaming."

"Shut it, goth-freak," Kizuna snarled, matching him scowl for scowl.

Left forgotten to one side, Kiba sighed. Kizuna's mood swings were too much even for him sometimes. She said she wanted to be teammates with Uchiha, but then she seemed to seriously hate him… And Kizuna had nothing on the bastard's hot-cold behavior. (Maybe there was something to Kizuna's 'girly' comments…)

In fact, the dog user kept a running list of all possible explanations for his teammates' unpredictable conduct toward each other.

Number one: Uchiha is an asshole. (This explanation worked for just about everything.)

Number two: Uchiha has a thing for Kizuna. (… Uchiha had real feelings? If that bastard did anything funny, Kiba would cut _it_ off and shove _it_ down his throat.)

Number three: Kizuna has a thing for Uchiha. (Originally, this had been explanation number one, but he'd crossed it out.)

Number four: Rivalry combined with a twisted sense of camaraderie? (… alright, he was just grasping at straws now.)

Sadly, Kiba had to admit that, most likely, there was no word in the lexicon for Kizuna and Uchiha's … relationship. Why did his teammates have to be such utter lunatics with complex, scary minds?

While he had been indulging in some well-deserved self-pity, Uchiha and Kizuna had dissolved into a standoff. As usual, Kizuna was the one to break it off, huffing and putting both her hand on her hips.

In the end, Kizuna really did want to be teammates…

"Tch! I don't have time for this," she complained. "I promised Hinata-chan a play-by-play of our mission. I'm supposed to meet her at Team Eight's training spot." Abruptly, she smiled and clasped her hands together. "If I hurry, I might catch Touka-kun before he leaves!"

Kiba snorted quietly. That explained the daydreaming.

As Kizuna gushed over her crush, Kiba rolled his eyes. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Uchiha looking nauseous. It was nice to know he wasn't the only one mildly sickened by the girl's mushy displays. 

"You should come too, Kiba-kun, Sasuke," Kizuna suggested suddenly. "I want to introduce you to Hinata-chan!"

"I already know her," Kiba pointed out wearily. Ah, the difficulty of being the only sane one.

"Yeah, but that was when we were just classmates. I want to introduce Inuzuka Kiba, my teammate," Kizuna explained. He didn't quite follow the reasoning, but Kiba had learned to just nod and agree when the blonde got philosophical. Kizuna smiled, then turned to their teammate. "What about you, Sasuke?"

Case and point. Two minutes ago she'd looked ready to carve his insides out, now she was inviting him along to meet her friend and her crush.

"Not interested," came the flat reply.

Kizuna pouted. "Why not? It's not like you have anything better to do!"

"I'm going to train," Uchiha snarled.

"You can train later!"

"It's a waste of time!"

"You're a jerk!"

"I'm not a pack animal like you!"

"Girly!"

"Tomboy!" 

Kiba watched the exchange with only mild interest. This was quickly becoming the new norm since they'd returned from Wave Country a week ago. Somehow, no matter where they started, all of Kizuna and Uchiha's arguments ended with 'girly' and 'tomboy'. 

"You're coming!"

"I am not!"

Kizuna paused, studying Uchiha with a calculating expression. If that look had been turned on him, Kiba would have backed away slowly. Either Uchiha was a braver man or his survival instincts weren't as well developed as the dog-user because he stood steady under Kizuna's attention.

Finally, she smiled a sharp toothy grin. "Not even if I said I'd introduce you to last year's number one rookie and genius?" she asked.

Uchiha's eyes narrowed, caution kicking in a moment too late. He gave no actual agreement, but Kizuna had long decided that a lack of protest meant "yes."

"Let's go!" Kizuna cheered, hooking her arm around Uchiha's and practically dragging him away.

Even though Team Eight's chosen training ground was at the other edge of the village, with Kizuna setting the pace, the three of them arrived only twenty minutes later. During that time, Kizuna and Uchiha argued three more times, while Kiba wisely chose to hang back a little. Kizuna always got a little crazy when Hyuuga was involved.

Yuuhi Kurenai-sensei nodded to them as they passed her on their way in. The kunoichi looked as sharp and intimidating as Kiba remembered. Something about her red eyes and serious expression made him respect her without ever spending more than three minutes in her presence. 

So much better than their perverted slacker of a teacher… 

The rest of Team Eight was still in the center of the training ground, resting in various states of exhaustion. As they approached, finally Kizuna released Uchiha and ran the last half a dozen feet.

"Hinata-chan!" the blonde called, engulfing her shyer friend in a giant hug. "I've missed you!"

Kiba could see the brunette flush a vivid red and blink rapidly. "A-anou… Kizna-kun, w-we just saw each other yesterday…"

"But that just for a minute!" Kizuna protested. "I haven't been able to talk to and hang out with Hinata-chan for more than a month!" 

"I-I m-mi…" Hinata began, seemingly choking on the words. Taking a deep breath, she tried again. "I missed y-you too, Kizuna-kun."

"Wah! Thanks, Hinata-chan!" Tightening her hug for a moment, Kizuna finally let go and stepped away, but continued to hold the other girl's hand. "Come on, I wanna introduce you to my teammates! The wild looking one with the dog's Kiba-kun and the crazy, girly-looking one is Sasuke, and the dog's Akamaru! Don't worry, they're all a lot saner and nicer than they look."

Kiba bristled and scowled. "Like you got any room to talk about craziness!" he protested.

"Bleh!" Kizuna stuck out her tongue at him. "Takes one to know one! How else would I recognize you?"

"Tch!" Uchiha huffed, pointedly looking away. "You're both crazy tattooed freaks."

The "crazy tattooed freaks" shared a look. He… had a point. Sort of. Between Kiba's triangles and Kizuna's whiskers (though those seemed to be more birthmarks), they really did look a bit…

Kiba vigorously shook his head, throwing off the train of thought. What was he doing, agreeing with Uchiha! No! No good! He'd get that stuck up bastard… Though, maybe not. Considering the look Kizuna was giving the Uchiha genius, anything Kiba did would be redundant. 

Once again, Uchiha remained steady in the face of doom. 

Luckily for him, someone drew away Kizuna's attention. "That wasn't very polite, Uchiha-kun," Haruno rebuked gently. As always, his pleasant-if-slightly-blank smile was completely unreadable. Did he like Uchiha? Did he hate him? Kiba could never tell.

"Touka-kun!" Kizuna cheered, latching on to the pink-haired boy's arm.

Looking at the two of them… well, while you certainly wouldn't mistake Kizuna for a boy, Haruno was just prettier in the conventional sense. In fact, Uchiha had nothing on Haruno in the "girly" department.

"Uzumaki-san, Inuzuka-kun, it's been a long time," Haruno nodded to both of them.

Kizuna pouted. "That's no fair, Touka-kun. You call that pig 'Ino-chan', but I'm always Uzumaki-san!"

"That's a little different," he replied, his smile not faltering. "Ino-chan is my childhood friend."

Kizuna huffed, but before she could protest, the last member of Team Eight cut in. "Hinata said your team completed a C-rank mission," Aburame reminded them. "I would also like to hear your account."

"Yeah, it was something," Kizuna agreed happily. "But I don't wanna repeat myself, so we're gonna go get everybody together first. I wanna talk to Tenten-nee about part of it. Her father said her team is training close by today."

Aburame and Hyuuga nodded, while Uchiha continued to pointedly look away. Haruno, however, smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry but I have a prior engagement. I'll see you some other time, Uzumaki-san, Uchiha-kun."

Kizuna pouted again as he walked away, but sighed and took the lead. As the group of five genin began to move again, Kiba jogged to catch up to the blonde. "Tenten?" he asked.

"She graduated a year before us," Kizuna explained. "Her father makes weapons, so I talked to him when I went to restock after Wave Country. It's pretty convenient, since she's on the same team as the guy I promised Sasuke."

Kizuna was right about their destination being close by. They arrived in only a couple of minutes later. A pretty kunoichi with dark hair up in two buns was practicing weapons throwing against a wide array of targets. Noting their approach, she spun around and launched a kunai at Kizuna. To Kiba's surprise, the blonde only laughed, catching the projectile and launching it back at the other girl.

Tenten laughed as well, catching the weapon and returning it to her holster. Their technique was the same, Kiba noticed.

"Kizuna-chan!" the older girl called, waving. "You've gotten a little better, I see."

"I've been practicing, sempai!" Kizuna replied cheerfully.

"That's good. Lee and Neji are sparring again. Neji's probably already noticed that you're here, so they'll stop soon."

Kizuna nodded and turned toward the other rookies. "Alright, everyone! We're here. As soon as the last two members of the audience arrive, we'll begin our feature presentation! Team Seven's Extraordinary Mission Extraordinaire!"

Kiba took this as a cue to sit, while Aburame and Uchiha leaned against a tree and a target respectively. Hyuuga pushed the tips of her forefingers together nervously as Kizuna moved to help Tenten retrieve her weapons. Just as the two girls were finishing up, two ninja burst out of the surrounding trees and landed in the clearing, almost simultaneously. 

Hyuuga squeaked quietly and turned a furious red, ducking her head. Raising an eyebrow at the reaction, Kiba studied the newcomers. Both had dark hair, but where one had long, well groomed locks, the other's was shaped in a sever bowl cut.

"Neji, Lee!" Tenten called. "Kizuna's just about to tell us about her C-rank. You interested?"

"Of course! I would never pass up the opportunity to hear about the triumphs of Kizuna-kun's flames of youth!" Bowl-cut declared, giving his teammate a thumbs up. Hyuuga blushed redder.

Whatever his male teammate might have said was cut off as Kizuna launched herself at him. "Neji-kun, I've missed your grumpy face so much!" she cooed, looking up at him through her eyelashes. "Even Sasuke's pretty boy charms aren't enough to ease the pain of our separation…"

Kiba's expression shifted into total disbelief. Finally, he recognized the guy. Hyuuga Neji, the previous year's number one rookie and genius, the guy Kizuna had promised to introduce Uchiha to. Also, the guy she'd put in the hospital for almost three weeks.

Also, the guy Kizuna was currently draped all over.

Hyuuga (he'd have to start calling Hinata by first name now) seemed completely unphased by this display. In fact, he looked resigned. His teammates, also, didn't seem to find this behavior at all odd.

"Uzumaki," Hyuuga began, his voice dry, "get off me."

If anything, Kizuna tightened her hold on his neck. "Only if you promise to listen to my story!"

"I promise."

"Okay!" Kizuna let go, instead grabbing his arm, and looked around. "Oh, right! These are my teammates, Inuzuka Kiba, Akamaru and Uchiha Sasuke. Don't fight with Sasuke 'til I'm done."

The two pretty boy geniuses shared an appraising look and sneered in tandem.

To her credit, Kizuna's rendition was very straightforward and factual. In fact, it read a lot like a mission report. Aburame and Hyuuga nodded once in a while, acknowledging certain points. Kiba spent the time studying the other rookies. 

While Kizuna had been having her little skit with Hyuuga, Tenten had maneuvered Lee so he was sitting next to Hinata, who seemed too preoccupied with inventing new shades of red to pay attention to the story. Meanwhile, Uchiha was shooting dark looks at Hyuuga. Kiba grinned and snickered quietly. Did he sense a hint of resentment?

It seemed like Uchiha had competition in the dark, brooding genius department.

Wrapping up her account with the official version of Gatou's death, Kizuna sat across from Hyuuga. "Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that guy's bloodlimit," she admitted. "I didn't really see much of it, but I think control water or something…"

Hyuuga nodded, crossing his arms. "That sounds most likely. Bloodlimits that allow control over an element are not unheard of."

"Can't I stop it somehow?" Kizuna asked frowning. "I mean, you'd put chakra in the water or whatever and control it like you would a bunshin, right? So isn't there some way to cut their control?" 

Kiba blinked (since when did Kizuna think about things like that?) and looked up as someone gently lay a hand on his shoulder. Tenten smiled at him. "Come one, I want to talk to you," she said, beckoning him up.

As they moved to one side of the clearing, she continued. "You're Inuzuka Kiba and Akamaru, right? Mind if I call you Kiba?"

"Eh… no…" Kiba agreed uncertainly. "Not to sound rude or anything, but what did you want to talk to me about?"

Tenten looked at him in surprise, then laughed. "Oh, I just don't want to listen to Neji and Kizuna pick apart some guy's technique. I mean, I know the basics, but Kizuna likes to work out exactly how the chakra flows in everything. It helps her learn the techniques, and that kind of thing is a Hyuuga specialty, so Neji's into it too. I can just get the short version from one of them later."

Tenten paused, turning to grin at him. "And, no offense, but I don't need to talk Uchiha since I'm on the same team as Neji, who's like Uchiha but better."

Kiba returned her grin. "I'm so glad to hear you say that," he confided. Plopping down, he thought for a moment. "How do you know Kizuna anyway?" he asked, turning back to the kunoichi.

"Oh, well, that's quite a soap opera," Tenten replied grinning. She sat on the grass, moving with the easy grace of a trained fighter. "It all started with Hinata-chan's huge crush on Lee. I mean, it's obvious she likes him," and looking at the two genin, it was. Lee and Hinata had separated from the rest of the group, and Bowl-cut was telling the girl something, gesturing vigorously. For her part, Hinata nodded, blushing furiously.

"But, you know, it's Hinata, and she wouldn't do anything about it herself, and Kizuna didn't want to mortify her by being to obvious about trying to get them together. Instead, after Lee and I got assigned to the same team, she asked me to help her with her weapons training, as one kunoichi to another." Tenten paused, as if remembering something. "I specialize in weapons, projectile and melee," she explained.

Kiba nodded. That explained Kizuna's habit of throwing sharp, pointy things when she got mad.

"Well, because both of those two are close-range taijutsu types, I usually train by myself, even when our team meets. So Kizuna made a point of coming when our whole team meets. Then, she suggested that Lee train with Hinata." Tenten paused again, realizing that this might not make sense. "Lee was last in our graduating class, and he's really serious about beating Neji, who was rookie of the year. Since Neji and Hinata are both Hyuuga, they use the same basic fighting style, the Gentle Fist. So training with Hinata would help Lee get used to fighting against it."

Tenten frowned slightly, shooting the two in question a mildly annoyed look. "Of course, they're still not together or anything, but it's a little better, I suppose…"

Kiba snorted. Girls… "What about Hyuuga?" he asked, belatedly realizing that might be a little too vague. "I heard some stuff in Academy about him and Kizuna fighting…" 

Rolling her eyes, Tenten laughed again. "Yeah, about her putting Neji through three walls, breaking his arm and giving him a concussion? It's true. He and Hinata… have some problems, so Neji used to put her down a lot. Kizuna heard once and went totally off the handle. Normally, Neji'd be able to dodge, but she caught him off guard and just kept going from there…"

Kiba grimaced sympathetically. "And with the way she hits, it doesn't take a lot…"

"Yeah," Tenten agreed. "They mostly yelled at each other a lot after that. Then Lee joined in to 'defend Hinata-san's honor' and used this move Gai-sensei taught him…" 

She winced, remembering something messy. Given the fights Uchiha and Kizuna managed to have between just the two of them, and the way Kizuna was wildly over-protective of Hinata…. Yeah, it probably got ugly, even without what seemed to be a bitter rivalry between Lee and Hyuuga.

It was a while before everyone started to disperse. Aburame was the first to excuse himself, with something a lot like regret in his voice, cueing Hyuuga and Kizuna to wrap up their discussion. At some not-quite-subtle persuasion from Kizuna (read: draping herself over him and gushing), Hyuuga quickly left, shooting Uchiha one last condescending look but making to move to start a fight.

Uchiha was less than pleased that his new rival had left without giving him a match and took off in a huff. Lee ran off as well, declaring that as much as he enjoyed spending time with 'Hinata-san', he needed to train in order to overcome his eternal rival (by the way Tenten snickered, Kiba felt that this was a reference to something).

Hinata excused herself quietly, promising to meet with Kizuna soon, and Tenten packed up as well, waving goodbye to him and Kizuna. As Kiba also turned to go, his teammate jogged up to him, waving.

"Hey, hey, Kiba-kun! What did you think of everybody?" she asked.

The dog user shrugged. "Nobody's as crazy as you," he replied, grinning. More seriously, he continued, "Tenten's pretty cool."

"Yeah, I'm glad," Kizuna nodded.

For a moment, the two of them walked together in silence. Finally, Kiba turned to his teammate with a conspiratory smile. "You know, Uchiha's really getting full of himself, so I was thinking we needed to pay him back for that 'crazy tattooed freaks' comment…"

Kizuna smirked in reply, all teeth. "I know just what you mean…"

-

- 

Before they had a chance to put their Heavenly Justice Revenge on the Stuck-Up Bastard Plan (tm) in action, something happened.

Up there, someone was snickering.

They had just finished another pathetic D-rank mission, this time involving grocery shopping, and as result, Kiba knew he'd have to tell his mother not to send him to any stores for a while. No supermarket in Konoha would allow him through the doors now.

Kakashi-sensei was peacefully reading his perverted book, somehow ignoring the two genin arguing not six feet away from him. Kizuna and Uchiha looked… murderous.

It wasn't as bad as it could have been, Kiba reflected. They'd managed to get through the "you're a weak idiot, you're an arrogant loser" stage of the argument pretty quickly (that was the point it usually deteriorated into violence) and had moved on to the much safer, shallower insults.

"Get a life!"

"Face reality!"

"Get a haircut!" 

"Act your gender!"

"At least I look mine!" 

'Wow,' Kiba thought dryly, 'that's a new variation.' 

And then… the universe sneezed and reality rolled over. Or at least, that was how it felt to Kiba.

A sudden whirlwind tore through the area, bringing with it a storm of fallen leaves. As the wind dispersed, a man appeared in front of their instructor, posing with one hand out in a thumbs-up gesture.

The strange (!) man looked a lot like Lee, except bigger. And crazier.

"Yo, Kakashi! My eternal rival, I have come to challenge you again!" he declared. "If I fail this time, I'll run the entire length of Konoha three hundred times with my eyes closed!"

Kakashi-sensei looked up lazily. "Hm? You say something, Gai?"

"Oh no!" 'Gai' cried, literally. "How hip of you, my rival!" 

With the arrival of the circus, Kizuna and Uchiha had stopped arguing and were now regarding 'Gai' with vastly different expressions. The blonde looked amused, while Uchiha seemed almost completely flabbergast. Kiba wished for a camera.

Catching his eye, Kizuna smiled and moved to his side. "That's Maito Gai," she explained. "He's Tenten-nee, Neji, and Lee's instructor. And, no, Kiba-kun, you're not dreaming."

Somehow or other they managed to relocate to a wide open area, with the two jounin facing off as their students watched. Lee and Hyuuga had joined them, arriving shortly after Gai, and explained that Tenten had skipped out on training that day. Kizuna shrugged and said that was normal since the kind of training the boys did wasn't really useful for the older girl.

Lee cheered enthusiastically, while Hyuuga looked away into the surrounding trees, masterfully ignoring the burning looks Uchiha sent him.

"Don't watch," Hyuuga suggested when he felt Kiba's stare. "It's embarrassing."

Kizuna snickered.

In the end, Kiba really wasn't sure if he was right or not. Both of the jounin seemed to just vanish from sight. He could still hear them, a little, since this wasn't a contest of stealth, but following the fight was impossible at his level. Judging from Kizuna's scowl, she was the same. And even Uchiha, his trademark red eyes spinning, looked a little lost.

In the end, Kakashi-sensei won, though Kiba only knew that because Hyuuga quietly told him.

"It's pathetic," Hyuuga continued. "Those that are inferior should just accept their fate."

That's where it all went downhill, Kiba decided in retrospect.

Hearing his casually-thrown remark, Kizuna shot Hyuuga a look of pure acid. Baring her teeth, she growled, "Still going on about that? And here I thought Lee and I pounded that bullshit out of you!"

Hyuuga's white eyes narrowed. "The events that occurred were only possible in that single situation, and that drop-out's victory was merely a product of circumstance," he growled, saying each word methodically, giving each a razor sharp edge. "I will not be taken by surprise twice."

"Oh really?" Kizuna drawled, tilting her head almost as if looking down at him. "Don't you mean 'thrice?'"

The tone of her voice was enough to set Kiba on edge. Even Uchiha with all his intentional venom rarely managed to get this kind of reaction. Looking around surreptitiously, the dog user cursed in his mind. The two jounin instructors were still in the courtyard below the students' vantage point, apparently oblivious to the mounting tension. Lee had also joined them, gesturing wildly at his teacher.

In the meantime, Uchiha had melded into the nearby shadows, watching with mild interest. Tch. There wouldn't be any help from that front. The only thing Kiba could hope for was that the bastard wouldn't make it worse somehow.

Damn. Damndamndamn.

Why did he have to be the only sane one around?

"Underhanded tactics are not something to be proud of," Hyuuga replied, his eyes slowly fading to complete white. "Neither is a complete lack of control. Displaying your emotions like a badge of honor… you have no chance of becoming a real ninja."

"At least I'm not pretending to be a something I'm not! Why can't you just accept the fact that you're a thinking, _feeling_ human!"

Without warning, Kizuna charged, one fist drawn back. Her punch hit only thin air as Hyuuga moved seamlessly out of the way, also dodging the concrete-shattering ax-kick that followed. As Kizuna shifted her weight to attack again, the older genin's hands shot out, barely blurs. As he pulled away, the blonde's right arm dropped suddenly, as if the strings holding it up had been cut. Or as if all the muscles in it had suddenly lost feeling, Kiba thought grimly. 

Adjusting instantly to the change, Kizuna didn't even pause in her movements, smoothly launching several kunai at her opponent and spinning into a horizontal kick. Hyuuga ducked under her leg and countered with a barrage of lightning-fast strikes, this time knocking the girl back a step. As Kizuna shifted to regain her balance, the older genin seemed to still for a second, his entire stance shifting, and Kiba just knew that he was gathering his chakra for a technique.

The next moment, the dog user was already between them, baring his fangs and bristling, ready to launch into Tsuuga without hesitation. He hadn't even stopped to think about it; siding with Kizuna was already an instinct.

"Watch it!" Kiba snarled. "My teammate!"

Behind him, the girl in question tensed, caught completely off guard. No one had come to her defense quite like that before. Sure, she and Lee presented a united front against Neji, but this was different, this was just for her sake…

Hyuuga was shocked as well, instantly aborting his attack and shifting into defense. His expression remained focused, but his pure white eyes narrowed in surprise. For a moment of tense silence, the three of them remained that way, frozen.

Then, letting out a deep breath and closing his eyes, Hyuuga rose out of his stance and walked away from them without another word. Snarling, Kizuna sprang after him, but before she had gone two steps, Kiba held her back, his own expression tight with anger.

At her demanding look, he snorted and shrugged. "Forget it. He's just a moron," the dog user offered, saying the first thing that came to mind. His own pride lashed at his newly-created control, demanding he prove his worth to that arrogant bastard, but Kiba forcefully shoved it down. 'Forget it,' he repeated to it. 'Kizuna needs you to be reasonable, to hold her back when she over-reacts…'

Because Kizuna tried to prove her worth enough for the both of them, because obviously he didn't have problems like she did. Because he already had his family who acknowledged him, and Kizuna, and even Uchiha in his own way.

Because Kizuna needed him.

In his mind, his pride cowed and bent its head.

But damnit, he loved her and all, but that was just a little much.

"What the hell was that just now?" Kiba demanded, turning toward her. "Yesterday you were acting like old friends and now you're bitter enemies? This is making you and Uchiha look mellow!"

Kizuna glared in the direction Hyuuga had gone, refusing to look at her teammate. "It's complicated," she hedged. "I really do wanna get along with him… but he just makes me so mad!"

"He didn't say all that much," Kiba said, crossing his arms. "Uchiha says worse pretty often."

"Yeah, well, Sasuke's my teammate, and I have to try to get along," she countered. "Neji's just Hinata-chan's asshole cousin with a huge chip on his shoulder. This isn't exactly the first time we've had this discussion, you know. He doesn't need to say much because I know what he means, what he's thinking. Hinata should just accept her fate as a weakling and fade out of sight until some missing-nin slits her throat on a mission. Lee should just drop out and give up his dreams of being a shinobi. And I should just let myself be stoned or something because there's no way everyone will stop hating me!"

Her voice rose until she was yelling the last few words, and Kiba looked away, his fists clenching. Kizuna stared at the ground, suddenly more sad than angry. 

"It's not what he says…" she murmured, "It's what he means… I don't… I don't want to believe that there's no way to change anything... that what happened in the past will just repeat itself… that if you were weak once you'll be weak forever… It's just…"

"Bullshit."

Both of them blinked, looking up in surprise. In the shadows, Uchiha steadily refused to meet their eyes, looking away into the distance. Kiba, and Kizuna also it seemed, had forgotten about their teammate.

"It's not impossible," he declared strongly, angrily. "Just because you were once doesn't mean you'll be weak forever. Just because you lost once doesn't mean you'll never get revenge."

His expression was ugly, Kiba thought, all hard and twisted. "_Someone I need to kill…"_ Wasn't that what he'd said before? Sometimes, just rarely, Kiba's deepest instincts hissed and bristled and cowered away from his teammate. 'Too old, too cold, too deep, too dark,' they whispered. 'Stay away or he'll pull you down too. Down, down, down…'

Kizuna shifted next to him, running a hand through her bangs. "Yeah," she murmured, smiling wryly. "Not gonna lose, not even to fate."

Uchiha shrugged one shoulder, expression shifting into his usual bored mask, but Kiba could see just a hint of something very human moving underneath. As his teammate moved out of the shadows onto the path and started to turn away, the dog user grabbed his arm firmly.

The annoyed glare he received was full of confusion and something an awful lot like embarrassment. Kiba grinned.

"Not so fast, Uchiha," he said. "We, as a team, have decided that there are certain problems that need to be dealt with and certain measures must be taken."

"Just think of it as a bonding experience," Kizuna suggested, all smiles as she latched on to their teammate's other arm.

Ignoring Uchiha's look of pure venom, Kiba exchanged a grin with her. All teeth, both of them. And Uchiha still realize that it was time to panic.

It was time to put their Heavenly Justice Revenge on the Stuck-Up Bastard Plan (tm) in action. 

-

-

The owner of the tattoo parlor regarded them with certain amount of weary skepticism. A middle aged man with a completely shaved head, he was completely covered in ink, the seemingly-arbitrary designs running across his face, his head, his muscled arms and disappearing under his t-shirt.

"You sure about this?" he asked, eyeing the four of them.

Well, they must have made quite a sight. It had taken all the combined brute strength of Kizuna and Kiba to drag Uchiha into the parlor, and a short scuffle had ensued when they tried to force him into one of the chairs.

In a way, Uchiha won. He wasn't sitting in one of the chairs like a normal patron. Instead he lay, tied up hand and foot, on his stomach across the parlor floor, one cheek resting against the checkered tiles, while Kizuna, Kiba and Akamaru sat on top of him, giving him no chance to escape.

"Yeah, totally," Kiba replied, shifting a little to get a better hold on Uchiha's legs. They'd tied him up, of course, but a good ninja could escape even Kizuna's wildly complex knots when you weren't looking. "Go ahead, we'll pay double for the trouble."

The tattoo artist shrugged and moved to pick up his instruments. "Well, I supposed it won't kill him either way. Just make sure he doesn't move," he instructed. "Otherwise, there could be real problems." 

"Sure thing!" Kizuna chirped from her position on top of Uchiha's back. She had been eyeing his clan crest for a while now, and her fingers twitched occasionally, as if longing to reach for something sharp and pointy.

Akamaru barked in agreement also, wagging his tail and carefully locking his claws in Uchiha's hair just to be certain that the genin wouldn't get any funny ideas about moving. For his part, the dark-haired genius seemed to have resigned himself to simply bidding his time. No doubt his revenge would be awful.

Somehow, though, Kiba couldn't bring himself to care. In fact, he felt giddy, almost hyper. Judging from her half-wild grins, Kizuna was the same.

"Cheer up, Sasuke!" the girl snickered. "It's just a little tattoo. In fact, I'm sure no one'll notice it behind your super starched collar!"

Uchiha's single visible eye swiveled to care at her as best as possible.

Oh yeah, they were so dead.

- 

-

Tilting his head to the right, Sasuke glared into the mirror. Logically, he knew that the small black shuriken design now gracing the corner of his jaw wouldn't be intimidated no matter how long he stared angrily at it. But damnit, he didn't _care_. He needed to glare at something, and sadly those two idiots had made themselves scarce, leaving him no choice but to head home and leave revenge for a later time.

He couldn't believe it. He just couldn't believe that they'd _dared_…

Reaching up, Sasuke ran his thumb over the tattoo. It was barely the size of a coin, but it was still vividly noticeable against his pale skin. 

"_It looks good on you. Your fan club will love it!"_

Damn. Damndamndamn. Sasuke snarled thinking of that dumb blonde's prating words.

"_What's the matter? Afraid what everyone's gonna think? Too much of a coward to take being a 'tattooed freak'?"_

His scowl deepened as dog-boy's words joined the girl's.

How dare that flea-ridden mutt even suggest that he was scared! He didn't care what any of those pathetic people thought! Even if painted he painted himself green and dyed his hair pink, it wouldn't be any of their concern!

They could make whatever the hell they wanted of his new tattoo! 

Grabbing his weapons pouch, Sasuke stalked out of the Uchiha complex. Maybe he'd get lucky and run into one of those two ingrates. Pounding them into the dirt would be just what he needed. How dare they…

"Sasuke-kun!"

Hearing the familiar call, the genin stiffened and cursed. He'd made the mistake of simply walking through one of the more populated parts of the village instead of traveling across the roofs. Glancing around, he spotted the girl who'd called and cursed again.

It was too late to run too.

Yamanaka Ino jogged up to him, waving cheerfully as Haruno trailed behind at a more sedate pace. 

"Sasuke-kun!" she repeated. "I'm so glad we ran into each other! I haven't seen you since graduation!"

Sasuke didn't reply, slouching slightly so that his collar obscured the tattoo. His silence did nothing to deter the girl, as always.

"I didn't expect to run into you like this, so I'm not exactly looking my best," she continued, gesturing at her outfit in an almost embarrassed manner.

For the first time, Sasuke noticed that she wasn't wearing her usual. Instead, Yamanaka was dressed in simple coverall shorts and a t-shirt, her hair down in a single plait and her long bangs held out of her face with a clip. One arm, the one she hadn't used to wave and gesture was occupied with a plastic bag, groceries it looked like.

"Hello, Uchiha-kun," Haruno greeted calmly, finally catching up. His arms were also filled with bags. "Going to train?"

Sasuke nodded, eyeing the other boy warily. Something about the always-smiling genin set him on edge. The two of them were the last people in the village he wanted to deal with just then. Or ever.

Haruno continued to smile, giving nothing away, as always. "Ino-chan and I were just doing some shopping. Unfortunately, we're expected, so we can't stay for long," he said. His voice was even and unreadable, but Yamanaka seemed to hear some hidden message, huffing slightly and shooting Haruno a small pout. The pink-haired boy tilted his head, his smile shifting just a little, and the blonde rolled her eyes and shrugged in response.

"Yeah, we better get going. It was nice seeing you, Sasuke-kun," Ino said reluctantly.

Sasuke didn't reply, closing his eyes and turning away. He could hear her receding footsteps. Behind him, Haruno lingered for a moment.

"I'm glad to finally meet you, Uchiha-kun," Haruno said quietly, and Sasuke turned sharply to look at him. The other genin was still smiling, a little more softly, but his eyes were serious. "I think this is the first time I've ever really seen you."

"Are you stupid?" Sasuke snarled. "We spent years in the same class." 

"That's true," Haruno agreed easily. "But the person back then…" He stopped for a moment, and for what seemed like the first time, he wasn't smiling. "That person was just a pale imitation. Even though I had never met the original, I could still tell that the person in class with me was just a copy."

"What the hell does that mean?" Sasuke demanded. "No one's made a copy of me!"

Haruno tilted his head to one side, smiled slightly, cynically amused. "No. No one made a copy of you. But you tried to make yourself a copy of someone else."

Snarling, Sasuke stepped up to the other genin, almost reaching out to grab him by the collar. Haruno didn't move, holding the brown paper bags calmly and staring back without flinching.

"Who were you trying to be… I wonder…" he murmured.

For a few tense moments, they continued to watch each other. Then, Haruno let out a breath and closed his eyes. Stepping back and turning away slightly, he looked back at Sasuke.

"Well, it's not my concern, really. But you should know, Uchiha-kun, that an imitation can never surpass the original. For that, you need to find your own kind of strength. You… you'll never get anywhere if you just do as you're told."

Suddenly, Haruno smiled, crooked and a little more real than usual. "You're finding that out by yourself, I think, but it's good to put things into words. Today is the first time I've seen a little of a real Uchiha-kun. I don't know if he'll stay and I don't know if I like him, but anything real is better than a fake."

Turning to go, Haruno glanced back over his shoulder. His smile was mischievous and just a little evil. "Nice tattoo, by the way," he said.

Sasuke watched him walk away. At the corner, Yamanaka was waiting for him, her expression annoyed, and even though Sasuke couldn't hear what she said, he knew she was chewing Haruno out. How odd that she'd stood back and let her friend just talk to her crush for so long without trying to eavesdrop, especially since Haruno had obviously gotten him mad. Usually she was so quick to come to "Sasuke-kun"'s defense… 

Haruno smiled in a placating way and said something that made Yamanaka shoot him a scandalized look, then roll her eyes. Both of them laughed.

Shoving his hands into his pockets, Sasuke turned and walked away.

-

-

The next day, Kakashi had given him a long look over the top of his perverted book, shrugged and said nothing (amazingly). In any case, the way his teammates edged away from him more than made up for the odd look. 

Watching the two dimwits cower was so pathetic it was funny. By the end of the day's mission, they literally jumped whenever he looked at them.

Sasuke smirked and watched them scramble for cover.

Bwa. Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha.

-

-

end chapter the seventh.

Bio Note 7: Ino and Touka are childhood friends, ever since Ino told Touka that she thought his hair was cute. Kizuna has a crush on Touka, ever since Touka told her that she shouldn't try to be someone she's not because he likes the real her best of all. Ino and Kizuna are rivals, and when they were kids, Kizuna had long hair in two ponytails while Ino had short hair. When Ino decided to grow her hair out for Sasuke, Kizuna cut hers short. 

-

-

Wow, what a lousy chapter. It's finally over though. This was hell to write, and it's very disjointed. I've had the idea of forcing Sasuke to get a tattoo since the very start because I wanted to be able to tell him apart from the canon-Sasuke. 

And Kizuna is now a certified lunatic.

Touka (I screwed up so bad on the same, and I still end up thinking of him as Touya sometimes) is… yeah… XDDDD (I hope I'm using that right. I'm no good with emoticons.)

Does anyone else think of Utawarerumono when I write "Touka"?

-

-

Next chapter: Gaara! Maybe… I actually have no idea how to play Team Seven's first meeting with the Sand. Kizuna-chan, what do you think of Gaara-kun? I'll try to get us to the second exam somehow…

- 

-


	9. Before Exam 2

-

-

Chapter the Eighth

-

-

"Kurenai-sensei said she was going to nominate us for the Chuunin Exam!" Hinata blurted out, all in one breath.

She and Kizuna were in the middle of an aimless stroll around the village, just enjoying the pleasant summer weather and each other's company. Or at least, that had been the idea. From the moment the two had met up about an hour before, Hinata had been preoccupied with something, taking deep breaths and letting them out again, opening and closing her mouth without saying anything.

Kizuna had waited patiently for her friend to gather her courage, trying to guess what could have gotten the shy girl so agitated. This was certainly not what she'd expected.

"That's right, the exams are coming up pretty soon," the blonde remarked casually, forcing herself to remain completely neutral. This was Hinata's choice to make, and if Kizuna so much as hinted at having a preference, her friend would be all too eager to go that way instead. "Are you gonna go?"

"I… I don't know," Hinata murmured, wringing her hands nervously. "O-only a full three-man team can enter the exam, so if I don't… Touka-kun and Shino-kun… they…" The shy girl sniffled quietly, almost in tears from the emotional strain. "I… I just couldn't bear to hold them back like that."

Kizuna sighed quietly, wrapping one arm around her friend's shoulders. Really, she wasn't any good at this offering comfort stuff. "Well… you know them better than I do, so do you think those two would hold it against you if you decided to wait a while before going for the exams?" she asked.

For several moments, the two of them walked in silence as Hinata considered her answer. Finally, the brunette murmured quietly, "No, they wouldn't. T-touka-kun and Shino-kun aren't like that…"

"So then, there's no reason to worry like that," Kizuna said reasonably. "You're getting stronger all the time, and waiting won't do anyone any harm."

"I guess…" Hinata agreed reluctantly. Stopping abruptly, she turned to look at her friend. "What do you think, though, Kizna-kun? D-do you think I should enter the exam?"

Looking away, Kizuna scratched at the back of her head and sighed again. "I'm your friend, Hinata-chan, so, no matter what, I'll always worry about you and want you to avoid anything dangerous. And the exam is definitely dangerous… But since Hinata-chan is a ninja, she has to do dangerous stuff often, and it'd be dumb and pointless to try and stop her… since that would be like stopping her from being a ninja…"

Taking a deep breath, she said slowly, "Basically, I want you to do what you believe is best."

"… Thank you," Hinata murmured in reply.

For a moment, both remained silent, neither looking at the either. Finally, Kizuna grinned impishly, looking sideways at her friend.

"But you know, Fuzzy-eyebrows'll definitely go to the exam…" she said, drawing out the words teasingly.

Hinata blushed a brilliant crimson and shot the blonde a scandalized look. "Kizna-kun!" she exclaimed.

Laughing merrily, the blonde danced away from her friend. "Hinata and Lee, sitting in a tree!" she sang, spinning around to face the other girl.

"Kizna-kun!" Hinata protested again, reaching toward the other kunoichi.

Giving her a wide grin, Kizuna backed away quickly and continued to sing, "K-I-S-"

Before she could finish the word, Hinata gasped, her eyes going wide, and that was all the warning the blonde had before she collided sharply with someone behind her. Preoccupied, the kunoichi had backed past a corner and into an intersection, and subsequently ran into someone. The two of them went down in a tangle of limbs.

A moment of confusion, then someone grabbed her by the collar and hauled her up. "Watch were you're going, you brat!" the bastard yelled in her face.

"You watch it!" Kizuna snapped back automatically, her conscious mind and common sense desperately trying to catch up. A guy maybe a little older than her had her by the collar and was snarling down at her. He had purple paint everywhere and he was wearing black. And his hitai-ate had an hourglass on it.

Snaking her own arm around his, Kizuna twisted in a way guaranteed to get the other person to let go, even if they were much stronger than the user. (She'd used that move a lot as a kid. Back then, all the adults were always grabbing her by the collar and hauling her off her feet.) Paint-freak hissed angrily and grew back as Kizuna jumped away.

"You little brat!" he yelled. "I hate shrimps like you the most!"

Kizuna bared her teeth and shifted to stand protectively between him and Hinata. Her hand was already moving toward her weapons pouch when another foreigner stepped forward.

"Kankuro!" the newcomer barked. "Remember our orders! I won't be responsible for anything that happens."

This one was an older girl, older even than Tenten, with scruffy blonde hair in four ponytails and a pink one-piece dress. She frowned angrily at everyone involved.

'Kankuro' returned her look with equal venom. "Temari," he drew out in a whine, "that brat started it. I wanna teach him a lesson about respecting his betters. Com' on…"

'_Hi-him?!_' Kizuna thought disbelievingly. 'No way, no way he just said that…'

'Temari's frown deepened into an icy scowl as she crossed her arms and looked away. "I will not be held responsible for this," she repeated.

Paint-freak smirked, all teeth, her words all the permission he needed. "You're gonna pay for running into me, you little rat," he taunted, holding one hand out and flexing his fingers. Kizuna had only an instant to register the gathering chakra before it was moving toward her.

Judging from the way his chakra had moved… he was using a whip? No, strings… The kunoichi's mind whirled, trying to take too many unknowns and come up with something. Instinctively, she brought her arms up to guard, already anticipating the sting she'd feel at impact.

Instead, there was a startled yelp, and the chakra dissipated just before reaching her. Kizuna looked up in surprise. The sand nin was cradling one hand in the other, his nasty scowl directed not at her but to one side. Spinning around, Kizuna stared at her rescuer.

Up in a tree, Sasuke smirked and tossed a stone up casually.

"What the hell?!" Kankuro demanded. "Don't interfere! It's none of your business, kid!"

Actually, Kizuna's thoughts were about the same, but her mouth refused to move, frozen in shock. Sasuke narrowed his eyes and let one corner of his mouth curl upward just a little. "On the contrary," he drawled. "I can hardly ignore one of my teammates when she's under attack."

'He's mocking me!' Kizuna thought viciously. 'I'll get you for this, Sasuke-teme…'

"Her?!" Kankuro screeched, spinning around to stare at the blonde in disbelief. "That's a girl?! She's flatter than a board!"

"Screw you, Mr. Make-up!" Kizuna snapped, waving an angry fist in his direction.

"It's not make-up!" the sand nin protested, taking a threatening step toward her. "I'll-"

Kankuro froze, his eyes wide like a rabbit's. His blonde companion, and Kisuna too, was hardly any better. They all felt the bloodlust. In the sudden, stunned silence, the icy voice was like a blade sliding out of its scarab.

"Kankuro. Stop."

Kizuna turned slowly, staring at the figure that had appeared behind Sasuke. Hanging upside down from a tree branch, his red hair standing up worse than Kiba's, he didn't look all that impressive. But she caught a glimpse of Sasuke's expression as he spun around – completely off guard, almost frightened. He hadn't felt anything; she hadn't either. And the sand-nins were terrified.

Whoever this new guy was, he was definitely something big.

In a quick burst of chakra and motion, the new ninja – sand also – vanished and reappeared in front of the other two foreigners (teammates?).

"G-Gaara," Temari began, nervous and scared. "We were just-"

"Shut up," the red head cut her off. "Let's go."

The other two nodded, gulping, but before they could depart, Sasuke hailed them angrily. "Wait! What is Sand doing in Konoha?" Temari and Kankuro shot Gaara nervous looks, but the other sand-nin simply looked over his shoulder to regard the Uchiha without any emotion.

Temari rolled her eyes, visibly regaining some bravado. Reaching behind her belt, she pulled out three heavily stamped official tickets and waved them lazily. "It's true what they say about it being darkest at the base of the lighthouse," she drawled. "We're here for the Chuunin Exams, obviously."

"What's your name?" Sasuke barked, turning his glare on the red head.

"Sabaku no Gaara." The reply was barely above a whisper, but they could all hear it perfectly. "Gaara of the Sand."

-

-

On the day of the exam, Kizuna was surprised to find three figures waiting in front of the building where the first test would be held. For a moment, she regarded the members of Team 8 in silence.

"Hinata-chan… you…" Kizuna trailed off, eyeing her friend carefully. Shaking her head, the blonde smiled cheerfully instead. "Were you waiting for me? Hinata-chan is just too sweet!"

The Hyuuga's smile was lopsided, but at least it wasn't strained in the way her smiles had been a few years back. "Kizna-kun…" she began, taking a deep breath and letting it out. "I'm not going to the Chuunin Exams this time."

"Oh, so you're here to wish me luck!" Kizuna exclaimed, her smile not faltering. "Yosh! I'll do my best!"

She wasn't surprised. That time, after they saw the sand-nins, Hinata had been so pale… Kizuna might not have been the sharpest kunai in the set, but she knew how to read Hinata. And Hinata had decided back then not to participate in the exam.

"I…" the dark haired girl began, trailing off for a moment, "I'll definitely enter next time. I'll train and I'll definitely get stronger, and then… I'll enter! Just not… not this time."

Kizuna nodded, her smile not changing. "All right. I'll be rooting for you!"

To one side, Aburame shifted slightly before speaking. "The rate of success on the first try is 2 percent. Most likely, you will attempt the next Chuunin exam as well," he stated.

"Why, you…" Kizuna ground out, taking offense at his words.

"Now, now," Touka laughed good-naturedly, "let's all get along, okay? No matter what, do your best, Uzumaki-san, and either we will watch you in the third exam, or we will it together."

"Sure thing, Touka-kun!" the blonde exclaimed cheerfully, completely dismissing her quarrel with the bug-user.

Hinata stepped forward again, holding something in her hands. "H-here," she murmured, holding out a small jar. "It's just… something I made… I know it's not any good, but if you can find a use for it… I mean…"

Kizuna took the gift easily, tucking it away in her pack. "Thanks, Hinata-chan! I really appreciate it. Your stuff's way better than the store's!" Leaning forward slightly, she raised one eyebrow. "Are you gonna give one to Lee too?"

Walking up to the building, Kiba paused and stared at the sight of Hinata blushing bright red and trying to hide behind Haruno as Kizuna danced around her and sang something in a loud and very off-key way. Shaking himself mentally and physically, the dog user took a deep breath. He really should have been used to this insanity by now… but something told him this day would be worse than most.

-

-


	10. Exam 2nd Round 1: Start

-

-

"I told you it would work!" Kiba declared triumphantly, kicking one of the three enemy ninja in the ribs. The unfortunate fool moaned helplessly, trying to roll away but only getting more tangled in the net.

Kizuna nodded in approval. "Nice. The slugs are really a great touch," she complimented, shaking the losers' scroll in order to dislodge one of said slugs. The slug squirmed, holding on stubbornly, and, as she paused, lifted its 'head' and bared a mouthful of teeth. Kizuna frowned, getting that 'I'm not loosing to you' look on her face, and in a single clean motion, drew her kunai and sliced the slug in two. It squelched in a defeated way and fell to the ground. Deliberately, Kizuna stepped on first one half, then the other, smirking victoriously.

Nearby, Uchiha rolled his eyes and scowled at them. Kiba had a feeling he was approaching his weirdness quota for the day. First being surrounded by crazy-looking foreigners, all practically shaking with tension and high on _something_, then that god-awful nerve-wrecking exam where they were _supposed_ to cheat (though Kizuna was probably the one who took that one the worst, if the looks she was giving their examiner were any indication), then the psycho lady's entrance, and now this psycho survival tour.

Not that Kiba minded. Much. Survival was his thing. Kizuna was probably gonna be just fine too. She'd been fine when they camped out on the way to Wave Country. Knowing her, she find something fuzzy to coo over soon enough.

Uchiha though… well, the only thing he found tolerable about the Forest of Death were all the enemies… which he wanted to fight head on. And that was totally not the point here.

After her experience with the exam-where-you-were-supposed-to-cheat, Kizuna backed Kiba on the idea that they should look underneath the underneath, or at least be smart about how they went about slaughtering their enemies.

So they had set a trap. (Well, he and Kizuna had set a trap. Uchiha wasn't really all that good at traps unless he was feeling malicious, and the only thing he was feeling just then was sulky.) And it had worked spectacularly.

And now they had two scrolls, which, in an unusual stroke of luck, were actually different. And that meant they could just head on over to the central tower and chill for the rest of the exam.

When Kiba relayed this idea to his teammates, Kizuna shrugged and nodded. "Yeah, that's fine," she said. "This whole thing is just annoying. I wanna get it over with before somebody offs Sasuke or something."

Uchiha scowled angrily. "I'm not the one most likely to be incapacitated here," he barked. "And since we have this opportunity, we should eliminate some of the competition."

"Why bother?" Kizuna asked. "There's always a third round just for fighting, right? You know, when all those important people come and everybody goes to the stadium. Besides, from the looks of the competition, they'll do fine eliminating each other. Psychos." Kizuna rolled her eyes, placing one hand on her hip. "What I want to know is how we're gonna carry these things," she said, waving the scroll she was holding.

"We should probably split them up," Kiba suggested. "To confuse enemies."

"Yeah, and I think maybe I can make a fake 'Heaven' scroll too," Kizuna agreed, nodding. "I brought an empty one for notes that looks about the same on the outside."

"That's cool. I'll take that one then," Kiba replied, nodding toward the 'Earth' scroll she was holding, "Uchiha keeps the real 'Heaven' one and you keep the fake."

"Tch. Why do I get the fake?" Kizuna protested half-heartedly, tossing him the brown scroll and turning to walk toward Uchiha.

The genius shifted, scowling. "Because you're the most likely to get caught or robbed," he replied snidely. "I don't agree with this at all. It's best to use this opportunity. Also, if we head toward the tower, there are bound to be traps."

Kizuna rolled her eyes, reaching into her pouch and pulling out a cream-colored scroll. "Yeah, yeah, just fork it over," she complained.

"If we wait, there'll just be more traps as more people make their way to the tower," Kiba reasoned as Uchiha grudgingly held out the 'Heaven' scroll. Taking it, Kizuna settled on the ground and pulled out a brush and inkstone. Raising an eyebrow, Kiba asked, "Do you always carry calligraphy supplies when you go into the wilderness?"

"Yeah, yeah," Kizuna grumbled, wetting the brush on the tip of her tongue and studying the real scroll intently. "It's for making extra explosive tags, smart-ass."

Uchiha snorted impatiently, moving to stand between his teammates. "At the very least we should try to gather some information on our opponents. This is a good to see them fight before the third exam," he tried to reason.

"If I might remind you, intel isn't exactly our area of expertise," Kiba replied, sneering slightly. "We all suck at sneaking around unnoticed. And besides, it's just not worth the risk."

"Speak for yourself, mutt," Uchiha bit back.

"Get over yourself, bastard!"

"Watch-"

"Okay!" Kizuna called out loudly, grabbing Uchiha's arm and forcefully dragging him away. "That's enough of that. I'm with Kiba on this. I wanna get out of here as quick as possible. I keep feeling as if we're being watched. So you're out numbered. Tough luck. Here you go."

Sending her a nasty glower, Uchiha took the scroll she was holding out and shoved it into his pouch. However, Kiba ignored the prodigy's displeasure. Narrowing his eyes, he asked, "What do you mean, you feel like we're being watched?"

"I mean, I've got this itchy feeling between my shoulder blades and I wanna start moving _right now_," Kizuna replied impatiently.

For once, he and Uchiha were thinking the same thing, however. "Why didn't you mention this before?" the prodigy demanded.

Kizuna rolled her eyes, agitation clear in her expression. "Because-"

But whatever her excuse, it was cut off as something wizzed past them, drawing a line of blood across her cheek, and then suddenly they were engulfed in a mad hurricane of dust, leaves and shrapnel.

-

Reflexively, Kizuna screamed, throwing up her arms to protect her face, but her voice was completely lost in the wild shriek of the wind. Some small, unidentifiable things hit her from all sides, pressed closer and torn away by the haphazard gusts.

Under a sudden onslaught, she stumbled backwards, slitting one eye open and trying to gain some idea of _just what the hell was going on_. Where were the other two? Were they under attack?

Shitshitshit-

A low, almost inaudible groan drove away all thought, and Kizuna looked up in horror. Suddenly, she was engulfed in shadow as a dark stripe crossed the sky. It grew closer and darker, and she realized…

_Oh, shit._

The tree was _falling_.

She jumped back just in time. Everything shook and rumbled as the giant trunk crashed into the ground. Knocked off her feet, she rolled away and scrambled to a crouch.

Abruptly, everything was silent, the wind gone, the tree still. Only leaves and dust floated down noiselessly, as the force driving them vanished.

For several long moments, Kizuna remained crouched, her mind blank, her heart racing, her muscles shaking with a sudden surge of adrenaline.

Finally, she gulped a deep breath of air and straightened gingerly. Everything was still eerily quite, the animals scared away by the sudden intrusion. Where were her teammates? Where was the enemy?

"…" As she opened her mouth to call to them, Kizuna suddenly felt more than heard something like…

Leaping away, Kizuna used her momentum to turn. The sight made her twitch and scowl desperately. The spot where she had been standing was ripped apart and out of the rubble, a giant triangular head rose slowly, its scales gleaming.

'Of all the-!'

The monster snake hissed, lunging again, and the genin barely managed to dash away, her mind racing. What now?! She desperately searched through her pouch for something, _anything_. The giant mouth opened, inviting her in.

Oh god, it was just going to swallow her whole…

Kizuna's eyes narrowed, and anger rushed through her veins. 'Like hell!' she snarled mentally, her fingers fisting into her stash of explosive tangs, crumpling them into a ball. 'Like hell I'm gonna die like this!'

As the giant mouth loomed again, she hurled the makeshift bomb in, reaching up and grabbing the upper jaw with her free hand, driving her feet into the lower. The two giant eyes glared, and it hissed for a moment-

And exploded.

Thrown away by the explosion, Kizuna hit the ground hard and rolled, bruising her shoulder and legs. All around her, blood and guts rained with a disgusting squishing sound. Coughing, the genin climbed to her feet and shook her head, trying to clear off some of the gook.

She smirked triumphantly, looking more than a little maniacal, and laughed.

'Hell yeah!'

Looking around, she easily spotted the fallen tree. The snake hadn't chased her too far before it got what it had coming. With a little tree climbing technique, she scaled the trunk and looked around. Her eyebrows furrowed.

Where the hell were those two fools?!

The area was in shambles after that wind storm, with deep groves in the ground and surrounding trees, but there didn't really seem to be any signs of a battle…

Suddenly, the sound of crash rushed through the forest. Without pausing, Kizuna took off toward it, jumping for tree to tree.

Arriving at the edge of the battlefield, she stopped short.

Sasuke stood frozen, staring fixedly at a snake not unlike the one she had encountered a few minutes before. Akamaru lay splayed across a tree branch, unconscious and more than a little worn. And Kiba… Kiba was held by the throat, his feet dangling in the air, as some snake-looking freak rooted through his pouch.

Kizuna's reaction was pure instinct. Dashing forward, she threw herself bodily into the snake, knocking it away from Sasuke.

"What the fuck, Sasuke?!" she yelled angrily as she and the snake flew past, off the branch and into a nearby tree trunk. She didn't have to see his reaction as the reptile twisted and pushed back, throwing her away. Twisting, she crashed feet first into another tree, cracking the bark as she desperately pushed enough chakra into her feet to control her movements.

Then it was coming at her, mouth open, beady eyes glaring fit to kill, but she had already reached into her pouch and found a tag and was pushing as much chakra as possible into it, so much that it was glowing.

Just as it was on her, Kizuna threw the kunai with all her strength, aiming straight for that glaring eye.

The snake reared back, hissing, shrieking, but only for a moment, and then the tag exploded, showering her with blood again, except now it was mixed with something she suspected was actually brain matter.

Just then, the snake freak chuckled, drawing his arm out of Kiba's pouch. Holding up both hands, one with either of the two scrolls, he threw the dog user away, and Kizuna suddenly realized that thing had been holding her teammate with its tongue.

_Oh, what the hell…_

Kiba crashed bodily into Sasuke, who barely managed to keep them both from falling off the branch. The snake freak laughed (creep, creep, _creep_) and said, "I expected more from his brother."

Out of the corner of her eye, Kizuna saw Sasuke pale and shake a little as he clutched onto Kiba, but it didn't register except to fuel her anger. Already she was lunging toward _that thing_, kunai draw.

Two voices yelled, "Don't!" And at least Kiba was well enough to be yelling at her.

The snake freak dodged easily, smoothly, and she barely saw him move as he plunged his fist into her stomach.

The same two voices were calling her name, and wasn't it nice that they were finally agreeing?

But she couldn't move or _breathe_…

Everything went dark.

-

Bio Note 8: Tenten's father taught Kizuna to make explosive notes.

-

I'm so sorry for how long this has taken. I think I've lost all interest in Naruto outside of this story and about three others that I'm follow/read. But I WILL CONTINUE working on this, no matter what. Every time I look at my story stats or find a new review alert in my mailbox, I feel renewed motivation. This is by far my most successful story.

A lot of you are wondering about Jiraiya and if he's going to train Kizuna. The answer is a definite yes. Simply put, it's too much work to get around it. Remember, if Kizuna doesn't learn to summon, she and her team are gonna get squished by Gaara's sand monster. Also, I still want Kizuna dragged along on the quest for Tsunade, which means she'll get the Rasengan too.

And no, Kizuna is not going to get a lot of training from Tsunade. Personally, I really want to break the "Legendary Three" cycle that the Naruto canon has. Also, Kizuna's chakra control is better than Naruto's, but it's also hard-earned. Chakra control does NOT come easily to her.

(I want Hinata to become Tsunade's apprentice.)

I have some idea of how the major plot points should go. It's the little details I have no plan for.

And just for the record, Sasuke is not going to go missing for three years. I think that's just where I completely lost all hope for this series. There's just no way it'll end happily after that.

Also, sorry for skipping the first exam. I just couldn't think of a meaningful way to change it. I also know that the end of this chapter is disjointed, but Kiba'll clear things up in ch.9. If you know how it originally went, you just need to sort of shuffle Naruto's and Sakura's roles.


	11. Exam 2nd Round 2

A/N: So, Kizuna's out, Sasuke's converting angst to psycho-power, and Kiba's… screwed. And yes, I conveniently forgot about Kabuto.

Yes, I know the long review at the beginning is boring, but I needed to get back in the flow of things.

Now, the day Sasuke proved he could be cool and freaky! (Nothing on Gaara though…)

-

-

Chapter the Ninth

- 

-

Gasping, Kiba stumbled between the tree roots, into the small shelter they provided. Gently, he lay down first Kizuna, then Uchiha, arranging them on their backs, limbs folded neatly. Neither had woken all the time he'd carried them. In his hood, Akamaru whimpered.

Collapsing against one of the "walls", Kiba wondered _how the hell they'd come to this_.

The second round of the Chuunin Exam had started well. Uchiha sulked, Kizuna killed stuff, they set up a trap and got their second scroll. And then…

There had been that crazy storm, blinding, cutting them to pieces and, worse, separating them. When they could see again, both he and Uchiha started calling for Kizuna… and she'd answered, except it wasn't really her. Kiba knew right away. The smell was all wrong.

Uchiha knew too, and they both attacked. But before they'd gotten two steps, a horrible wave of bloodlust engulfed them. Kiba could see himself fighting, being torn apart, dying. And not just see either… feel. Feel his muscles tear, his bones splinter, his blood flow out.

As soon as he could move again, Uchiha had offered up his scroll as payment for letting them go. Uchiha didn't know how animals worked. He didn't understand. Anything that felt that kind of bloodlust would kill just because. That thing would kill them just because they were alive.

Kiba had tried to fight, but Akamaru had been knocked out right away. That thing knew how his techniques worked, knew where to strike. Summoning a snake to occupy Uchiha, it had taken the Heaven scroll and caught Kiba, taking the Earth scroll as well.

And then, Kizuna came back. She'd plowed through the snake like always, all fire and insane strength. But Kizuna was Kizuna, and that thing was no snake. No real snake. No real animal.

It had taken her out in one hit, throwing her body aside thoughtlessly. Kiba barely caught her before she hit the ground. And then Uchiha finally pulled himself together. He'd fought that thing well, better than he'd ever fought before, but it wasn't enough.

That thing had said something to him, "Uchiha", "brother", "worthy", "power". "Itachi". (Kiba wasn't Kizuna, but he'd been around her too long. He knew what she would have thought. He had thought the same thing. That thing was trying to take Uchiha away. Those things it had said were trying to take him away.)

And then, that thing had… had bitten Uchiha.

And now Uchiha was hanging between life and death, burning up from the inside. There was a weird marking on his neck (marked like territory, Kiba thought angrily). And neither he, nor Kizuna, were waking up.

Taking off his jacket, Kiba wrapped the thick cloth around Akamaru like a cocoon and laid the dog next to his other teammates. Gathering all the belongings the three of them had between them, the dog-user took inventory. It wasn't much, but he'd have to make do.

All he could do for Uchiha was a wet cloth across the forehead, but then, there was even less he could do for Kizuna. She was just knocked out, after all. For a moment, Kiba debated waking her. She would probably come around… but she needed her rest, and he could easily stand guard alone.

And besides, she might object to him taking her medical cream, even if it was for Akamaru.

The attack came at dawn.

Three Sound-nins knew they had the upper hand. They announced their presence with a barrage of kunai. Kiba deflected their weapons easily, using all the skills he'd gotten from far too much training with Kizuna.

The two males sauntered into the clearing in front of Team Seven's temporary shelter, one clearing smirking, the other carrying himself in a way that more than made up for his covered face.

"We're here for Uchiha Sasuke!" the smirking one declared. "Go ahead, try to stop us! Killing you will make my day."

"Go to hell!" Kiba snarled in response. "As if I'd give up my teammate!"

The Sound-nin's smirk widened. "In that case," he drawled, tensing to attack, holding up his hands, "die!"

Abruptly, he flung his hands forward, palms facing the Leaf-nins. There were holes in the middle of his hands. As Kiba registered the inbuilt weapons, a crushing wave of air rammed into him, pushing him back against his will. It was strong, making him throw his arms up to guard, but it was still nothing compared to Kizuna's crazy strength. Automatically, Kiba knew this was only a distraction.

Even before he had moved his arms away, as the wind attack began to weaken, Kiba dropped down into a crouch, reaching for his kunai. He was on his own, but he would do this. The air whistled above him as the Sound-nin attacked and missed. Holding his kunai point forward, Kiba sprang up, aiming for his opponent's vitals.

He only managed a shallow cut as the Sound-nin sprang away, recovering quickly, and readied his wind attack. Up close, it was stronger, or maybe he had been putting more into it.

Hit head on, Kiba went tumbling back, head over heels, but he flipped expertly to land in a crouch on two feet and one hand, the other already moving to hurl the kunai at his opponent. 

The Sound-nin smirked, easily deflecting the weapon with a well-aimed burst of wind. "It's useless," he mocked, ignoring the cut across his middle. It was shallow, barely piercing the skin. "With these arms, I'll beat you without even trying."

Kiba didn't bother retorting this time, instead rushed forward as if to attack again. His opponent held his arms at ready again, but Kiba changed course at the last minute, darting to one side without warning. Going low, he knocked the Sound-nin's legs out from under him.

Just as he was about to deliver a serious blow, Kiba felt _something_ wash over him, no, rip through him, and suddenly it felt as if his insides had developed minds of their own. His ears shrieked and his vision doubled. In the next instant, his stomach turned over and, dropping to his knees, he threw up.

As he gasped, the nauseating taste of vomit strong in his mouth, Kiba barely noticed his opponent regain his feet and approach him. A swift kick to the side sent him tumbling across the ground, jarring his still ringing head. For a moment, Kiba couldn't seem to control his limbs at all. Coughing, he managed to lever himself up on one arm. 

"Tch! I could've handled it!" he could just make out his opponent complaining, whining. "You didn't have to interfere!"

In the back of his head, Kiba realized that other Sound-nin had done the same thing he'd done to that grey-haired guy before the first round. Shit, how had he managed to forget about his opponent's teammates?

"Don't forget what we're here for," the other Sound-nin responded. "Get rid of Uchiha Sasuke, then you can finish playing around."

The smirking one grumbled something in protest but moved past Kiba and toward the place where Uchiha and Kizuna lay unconscious. Shit. Shit. Kiba grit his teeth, but all he could do was drag himself onto all fours.

"Stop! Come back here!" he yelled, forcing his jaw apart and gasping for breath. "Coward! Fight me!" The Sound-nin paused for a moment, scowling. Catching his glare, Kiba smirked, though it looked more like a grimace. "You're pretty pathetic, aren't you? You can't even beat me without that guy's help. I guess you can only beat an opponent when they're not even conscious, right? Ha-ha!"

The Sound-nin snarled, spinning around to fully face Kiba, a snarl twisting his face. But before he could do more than take one step back toward the prone Leaf-nin, someone else strode quickly up to Kiba and landed a nasty kick in his side. This blow didn't send him flying, like the other, only forcing his back to arc and making him wheeze.

"Can't you see he's baiting you, Zaku?" an annoyed female voice asked from just above him, the final member of Sound's team making herself known. "Hurry up. I want to see the look on his face when we kill his precious friends right in front of him."

Seeing Zaku smirk again and turn away, Kiba tried to get to his feet, but the girl planted her foot firmly in the middle of his back, pushing down again. Scrambling futilely and cursing, Kiba could only feel panic and fear. Kizuna. Uchiha.

"Damn it! Kizuna! Uchiha! Wake up!" he bellowed, his voice a little muffled by the ground pushing up against his face. "Can't you do anything?! Are you that weak?! Get up! Wake up! UCHIHA!"

And then he did.

A burst of chakra tore part of the overhang away, sending Zaku stumbling back a step and forcing the girl to take her foot off Kiba as she also backed away. Leveling himself up on his elbows, he could see Uchiha rise slowly to his feet, his head and arms hanging low, loosely. Like he was a puppet with only half the strings. But that wasn't all that was wrong.

The chakra was all wrong too, all sickly, rotting purple. There was too much, far more than Uchiha should have had, and it was all different, not his. Not right.

Strange markings crawled across his left arm, glowing like embers. As Uchiha finally raised his head, his red Sharingan eyes sweeping over them (_the look in his eyes…_), Kiba could see the same markings on the left half of his face.

(Left, all left. Left, where he was bitten.) The markings flared for a moment and grew. (It was spreading, like a disease, like poison.)

For a moment, everyone was silent, staring. Then, Zaku smirked again, his confidence and pride returning. "Well, well, look who decided to wake up. Maybe you'll put up a better fight than your mangy mutt of a teammate," he drawled.

Kiba froze as Uchiha's eyes snapped to him and narrowed. His voice was dark and cold when he slowly said, "So you're the one who did that to him." It wasn't a question. Some small, unaffected part of Kiba snorted. Like you really care what happens to me, it sneered at Uchiha.

"Yeah, that's right!' Zaku declared, almost with pride. "Don't worry, I'll put him out of his misery real soon. That's what you do to useless dogs, right? Him and that blonde brat, right after I deal with you."

But that was the wrong thing to say, Kiba knew. Whether Uchiha cared or not, this would just make it worse. And suddenly, Uchiha wasn't standing where he'd been before. He was behind Zaku, his arm raised. The blow was solid, straight to the Sound-nin's neck, making him plow into the ground.

The girl next to Kiba retaliated with a barrage of senbon and the dog user could hear movement behind him as the third Sound-nin prepared to attack.

Uchiha dodged the projectiles with ease, launching himself at the girl and kicking her high. Her head snapped to the side and she crumbled. As she fell next to him, Kiba tried to see if she was breathing. Suddenly, Uchiha grabbed his arm and jerked him away. A vicious wind ripped through the place where they had been a moment before, tearing into the girl's body.

On the other side of the clearing, Zaku snarled at them, preparing to attack again. He didn't care in the least that he had hit his own teammate without even confirming whether she was dead or alive. Turning to face him, Uchiha unceremonially dropped Kiba to the ground. Then, he was suddenly gone again.

Kiba watched with a sort of sick fascination as Uchiha easily gained the upper hand. He'd finally regained enough coordination to climb to his feet, though he still swayed a little, even just standing still.

Uchiha… was all wrong.

Stumbling forward, Kiba called out, "Stop! What the hell are you doing?"

Letting go of Zaku's now-useless arms, Uchiha turned to look at him coldly. "They are the enemy. I'll defeat them. I'll become strong enough to kill _him_," the boy replied, his voice almost maniacal, the smirk on his face cruel. His eyes moved past Kiba to settle on the last member of the Sound team. But before he could attack, Kiba grabbed his arm firmly. 

The markings (poison) had spread further.

"Stop it! We won! That's enough already!" But Uchiha didn't seem to care. He was like that thing that would have killed them just because it could. "What the hell did that snake-freak do to you?! Just one weird mark and you're like this?!"

Uchiha snarled, jerking his arm away, making Kiba stumble back. "Like what? Strong? Mercy is for the weak! Emotions like that are a weakness! I won't lose! I'll become strong!"

"_He'll find me. He'll come to me, looking for power."_

That thing was taking him away.

"What the hell kind of strong do you think this is?! This isn't the kind of strong you wanna be! You're just turning into a worse monster than _him_!"

"If that's what it takes, then I'll-" _become a worse monster than him_. 

But Kiba didn't give him a chance to finish. Saying it would make it too real. "You'll what?! Lie to us? Go back on everything you said, everything we did? Make us hunt you down as a traitor? Stop trying to become something you're not! What happened to your ninja way?! Aren't we teammates? Comrades?"

Uchiha opened his mouth to protest, to argue, but nothing seemed to come out. Kiba felt his anger draining away.

"What am I going to tell Kizuna?" he asked, almost pleading.

The markings (poison) slowly withdrew, disappearing under Uchiha's shirt. As they vanished, the genin slumped, dropping to his knees and clutching at his neck, where he had been bitten. Crouching next to him, Kiba laid a hand on his shoulder.

"I see." The voice caught them both by surprise. They looked up to find the last Sound-nin studying them wearily. "So that's how it is. We've been set up from the start. Yes, we are no match for your power. I will leave you our scroll, so please let us leave with our lives."

As he spoke, he pulled out an Earth scroll and laid it slowly on the ground. Seeing neither of them move, he quickly picked up the bodies of his teammates and disappeared into the trees.

For a long time, both the Leaf genin were silent. Uchiha didn't shrug his hand off, Kiba noticed.

Finally, Sasuke said, "Don't tell Kizuna about this."

They shared a look, and Kiba nodded slowly.

-

-

After both of them recovered enough to be able to walk without swaying, Kiba and Sasuke set about waking up their teammate. It wasn't particularly hard, though Kizuna panicked at first, still thinking of the last thing she had seen.

Quickly, Kiba gave her an abbreviated version of what had happened, leaving out all mention of any strange markings, vampirism/neck-biting and psychotic behavior on the part of their resident pretty-boy.

Kizuna was silent for a long moment before nodding decisively.

"Alright then," she said. "I think we should head to the Tower as quickly as possible."

Kiba gave her a disbelieving look. "Don't you think we should recover first? We're in condition to fight anyone for their scroll." 

"We don't need to," Kizuna admitted, a little sheepish. "Actually, I have the Heaven scroll right here," and she waved the white scroll she had kept for herself. "I kinda… gave Sasuke the fake."

Sasuke snorted and rolled his eyes. Somehow the motion made Kiba crack a grin.

"I know you're not in the best shape," Kizuna continued, "but we can still travel, and if we wait more people will gather around the Tower. It'll be even harder to get through."

Climbing to his feet, Kiba nodded. "So we're going for speed and avoidance. Got it."

"It'll be a miracle if we get through without a battle," Sasuke grumbled, also rising.

"We'll be fine!" Kizuna exclaimed, giving them a cheerful, confident smile.

-

-

Sometimes, Sasuke really wished he wasn't right so often. Like now.

"Stop," dog-boy said abruptly, seemingly out of nowhere, as the three of them quickly made their way through the forest.

"What's wrong?" Kizuna asked, following his command immediately.

"We passed this tree before," he explained, gesturing at a particularly large, gnarled tree. It looked pretty much like all the other trees to Sasuke, but he was too tired and worn to really care. "I can smell our scent here too. We're going in circles."

"Genjutsu?" Kizuna guessed, frowning. Dog-boy nodded tersely.

Well, wasn't that just great. None of them were any good with that kind of thing. Normally, Sasuke would just use his Sharingan, but now… His neck twinged every time he drew chakra. He could barely use the tree climbing technique.

Without thinking, he reached up to finger the bite. But then, his eyes caught Kizuna's and he stopped. For a thick-skulled, dense tomboy, she could be annoyingly perceptive at the worst of times. Instead, he rubbed his thumb over the corner of his jaw, where he could just barely feel the difference in texture that signified his tattoo. Just thinking of that incident made him glare at the blonde.

Catching his train of thought, she grinned impishly. "So, any ideas?" she asked. For a moment, she looked far too cunning. "If we wanna get out of this, we need to track down whoever's making this illusion," Kizuna noted, raising a hand to her chin thoughtfully. "But…"

"How do you plan to do that?" Sasuke asked, giving her an even, measured look. "They're probably watching right now." _They're watching. Do you have a plan?_

"Well, we can't just keep walking. We'll only get worn out," Kiba complained, scowling. _If we're doing it, let's do it now. I'm ready._

"Can't either of you do something about this? You're useless," Kizuna huffed.

Sasuke looked away, shrugging. _I can't use the Sharingan._ The look Kizuna shot him promised a world of questions and prying once they were out of this.

"I'm a tracker, not a genjutsu expert," dog-boy barked in response. _I can track them, just give me a distraction._

"Akamaru's more use than you," Kizuna replied. _Are you going to use him?_ Kiba bared his teeth. _Yeah._ Kizuna rolled her eye and said, "Let's scatter, and meet at the tower. If we separate, they probably won't be able to keep track of all of us." _On three?_

"Don't get lost. You're the one with the Heaven Scroll," Sasuke grumbled, nodding to Kizuna. _One._

"How come I don't get one? That's totally unfair," Kiba complained as he pulled Akamaru out of his hood. _Two._

"Just deal." _Three._

In an almost invisible motion, Kizuna threw a smoke bomb onto the ground. In the chaos, Sasuke waited only long enough to register that dog-boy had used his Juujin Bunshin technique on his dog and a Henge on himself before shooting out of the cloud of smoke and into the woods.

To one side, he caught a glimpse of what looked like Kiba, but he knew that was just his dog in disguise. The next moment, he was just running, leaping from tree to tree. He was just a distraction but that didn't mean he could afford to slack off. After all, he had the Earth Scroll.

Really, though, that was just so that their enemies would pay more attention to him or Kizuna, depending on which scroll they needed, assuming they needed one and weren't just ambushing other teams to get rid of the competition. 

Lost in his thoughts, Sasuke almost missed the distinctive sound of an incoming projectile. Landing on the next branch, he barely managed to jump away in time as a kunai imbedded in the wood. Cursing his lowered reaction time, he dropped to the ground, waiting for the next attack.

All around him, white-suited figures appeared, identical masked shinobi. Instinctively, Sasuke drew a handful of shuriken and flung them at the nearest Bunshin. The weapons passed through the illusion harmlessly, embedding in the tree beyond. Sasuke cursed.

Were they just mirages? It seemed that way, since his attacks didn't affect them at all. With that in mind, he didn't worry when the nearest Bunshin raised its illusionary kunai and prepared to attack. The only warning he had of his mistake was the sharp whistle of metal cutting through the air. 

Scowling as a fine line of blood appeared across his cheek, Sasuke tried to reassess the situation. Had he been wrong? No, the Bunshin were illusions, but the kunai had been real. So… the enemy was timing their attacks with the Bunshin's to confuse him. And it was working, Sasuke decided, as the illusion army raised their weapons to attack. Which ones were real? He couldn't dodge them all without the Sharingan.

Automatically, he tried to call up his bloodline, and for a moment, everything flickered between normal vision and the sight given to him by the technique. Then, a stab of pain spread out from his neck, effectively cutting off the ability. (And _something_ whispered in his mind…)

Although he dodged most of the barrage, a few stray kunai made contact. Or more correctly, a few stray kunai passed right through him and one slice open his arm. Gripping the wound, Sasuke stumbled, straight into the path of another barrage…

And then all the Bunshin just flickered and vanished, leaving just one kunai flying straight at him. Sasuke dodged it with ease and stood.

In a few moment, a familiar figured dropped out of the trees. "Hey! Sorry about the wait!" Kizuna exclaimed. "Kiba's finishing up with our… friends. You okay?"

Not for the first time, Sasuke wondered just what _the hell_ his teammate was on. (And privately, he wondered if maybe she would share.) Because it wasn't natural to be that cheerful after almost two days in a forest of death, monsters, and crazy snake bastards. It certainly wasn't natural to be that cheerful when you're half dead and hurting everywhere.

"Never better," he bit out, eyeing the girl as she dug out a roll of bandages and a tube of anti-septic. (And somehow, he hadn't been better in a long time.)

(There was something about being rescued… He really was going insane, wasn't he?)

-

- 

So… ah… Five months. … Right. Well, I'm back on a new Naruto binge. Shippuuden is pretty good, though the second movie isn't nearly as cool as the first (and no, not because there is no Sasuke). What does everyone see in Sasuke anyway?

Yeah, whatever. Now I have the ultra-fun task of working out how the prelims go.

For now, I believe we have…  
Kizuna, Kiba, Sasuke  
Gaara, Temari, Kankuro  
Neji, Tenten, Lee  
Ino, Shikamaru, Chouji  
Zaku and the other Sound guy  
Kabuto's two teammates

That, sixteen people, eight matches. I'll probably skip half, but some are going to be interesting and important. If I forgot someone, please tell me. And could someone tell me the three names I can't remember? I know I'll have to look them up, but I'm so lazy…

-

-


	12. Exam Preliminary Round

A/N: …

-

-

Chapter the Tenth. 

-

-

Kizuna did grill him for answers, the moment they were confirmed as having completed the second round (the less said about those stupid scrolls the better). As a shinobi, Sasuke was of course an accomplished liar, but Kizuna seemed to have some kind of sixth sense when it came to her teammates.

So Sasuke told her the truth. In other words, he told her that he couldn't mold chakra. Well, it was part of the truth.

Kizuna continue to shoot him worried, angry and annoyed looks, but Sasuke had a lot of practice ignoring her. Far more interesting were the other teams at the Tower. They were the second to arrive, "greeted" by the people (freaks) from Sand. Only an hour afterward, Team Ten stumbled in, followed by Team Gai. On the third day, the team of that weird guy Kabuto walked in, seemingly unscratched. Last to arrive were the Sound team, giving Sasuke a wide berth. The girl had to be supported, barely able to stay on her feet, and the guy Sasuke had fought (mutilated) had both arms immobile in a sling.

At the end of the time limit, all those that had passed were gathered in a large chamber, lined up in even rows by team.

Then, they were told to fight.

Apparently, the time of the dignitaries who would come to see the third round, a series of one-on-one battles, was far too valuable to waste with all of them. Their numbers would have to be halved before they could proceed.

Suddenly, Sasuke was very glad that Kizuna had insisted on heading for the Tower right away. At least they had had time to rest… though he still couldn't mold chakra properly.

When the genin were informed that they were now fighting individually, so they could forfeit without affecting their teams, two people immediately stepped down. The first was the Sound girl, who barely stumbled away from the line under her own power. The second was Kabuto, who looked entirely well and ready to fight. Sasuke filed that away.

Kizuna was shooting him worried looks again, but Sasuke gave her a flat glare in reply. 'Like you would forfeit in my place,' he thought. Huffing, she turned away again. He could feel Kiba's stare boring into the back of his head, but Sasuke ignored it.

As they moved to the observation platforms around the main floor, Kakashi waved at them lazily. "Yo!" he drawled. "Good job on making it this far." Kizuna glared and snarled something vicious, but Kiba pulled her away. Falling in step with Sasuke, the jounin said quietly, "If you're not fighting first, I'm pulling you out."

Sasuke mutely glared in reply, but his mind was whirling. One, Kakashi knew about… whatever it was. Two, he knew it was dangerous. Three, he was giving Sasuke a chance to fight all the same.

"Yamanaka Ino versus Uchiha Sasuke!" a sickly jounin declared the first match up.

As both the genin moved to face each other, Ino tugged nervously at her bangs. As she looked up at Sasuke, opening her mouth to speak, he cut her off. "Just concede," he told her coldly.

For a moment, she looked surprised and a little hurt. Then her face morphed into a look of anger and pride. "No! I'll show you, Sasuke-kun, how strong I am!" the blonde declared. Calming a little, she continued coyly, "If I beat you, how about a date?"

Sasuke glared.

"Ready? Begin!" the jounin referee called out, quickly jumping out of the way.

Sliding into ready position, Sasuke tried to remember anything useful about Yamanaka's fighting style and techniques. Her family specialized in spying through possession, he was pretty certain. Some of the more advanced techniques were fairly devastating, including total mind control from up to miles away, but Ino wouldn't know something that high-level. All she had was Shintenshin, Mind-Body Switch.

It was slow and easy to spot, and even in his state, he'd be able to dodge easily. Ino really wouldn't pose a threat. But all the same, he would prefer not to fight her at all, not when he was like this. 

"Just give up," he suggested again. "You can't beat me."

Ino pouted. "At least give me a chance to prove myself to you. Don't you know? A girl always wants to be respected by the man she loves."

"With your skills, there's no way you could impress me," Sasuke replied, sneering a little. "The only thing you have going for you is your family technique, and it's designed for stealth, not combat."

Even without the Sharingan, Sasuke easily predicted her attack, and, carried by the force of her charge, Ino rushed past him as he dodged. She was left completely open, and Sasuke sent her flying with a strong kick to the back. Tumbling a few times, Ino rolled into a crouch and glared. 

Sasuke sneered again. "If you wanted to impress me, you should have spent less time staring in the mirror and more time training."

"Sasuke-kun!" she exclaimed, stumbling to her feet. "You-you're kidding, right? I wanted to make myself a suitable wife for you!"

"A good shinobi is always more interested in how well a kunoichi can fight, not how pretty her hairstyle." Realizing what he was saying, Sasuke grimaced. By his own definition, he'd practically admitted to preferring Kizuna to Ino. It was true, in the sense that he would rather have Kizuna as his teammate, but in a romantic sense… he didn't care for either of them. He had no time for things like that…

Ino looked stricken for a moment before her expression turned furious and almost maniacal. "So- so that's how it is," she chocked out and gave a short laugh. "So this was all for nothing?" Reaching back, she grabbed hold of her long ponytail and pulled it over her shoulder. In her other hand, she held a kunai, making Sasuke tense reflexively. "Well fine then! Then, I don't need this! I'll show you!" 

In one clean motion, she drew the kunai through the rope of golden hair, cutting the ponytail to only a shadow of its former glory. Laughing, almost sobbing, she threw the length of hair still in her hand in the air, scattering the strands between them, like a sacrifice.

As the Ino's hair fell between them like a carpet, Sasuke stared at her uncertainly. Was she going to fight? Logically, her chances were still non-existent, but…

Slowly, Ino raised her hands, forming an odd seal that took him a moment to recognize. It was Shintenshin. Tensing, Sasuke prepared to dodge, only to find his feet glued to the ground. Noticing his surprised stare, Ino laughed again, sounding more cunning than unhinged now. 

"That's right! You're trapped! Did you think that was just for show?" she asked. "Now you lose, Sasuke-kun! Mind-Body Switch!"

There was a bright light heading toward him (astral projection, he knew), but Sasuke couldn't move. And then, everything went dark.

-

-

Despite herself, Kizuna was impressed. Honestly, she had always had a very low opinion of Ino-pig's skills, both in terms of combat and strategy. But somehow, Ino, with her wild emotional performance, had managed to corner Sasuke. As the Yamanaka family technique hit Kizuna's teammate dead on, Ino's victory seemed certain.

As the light faded, Ino's body toppled over slowly, no longer having a will to hold it up. Across from her, Sasuke drooped as if someone had cut his strings (unknowingly copying the stance he'd taken only two days before).

'Damn,' Kizuna thought. 'Never thought Sasuke would lo-'

Then, suddenly, the genin started screaming. Clutching his/her head, Ino-in-Sasuke shrieked in pure terror, eyes wide and unseeing. Drawing a shuddering breath, he-she choked out an incomplete plea before giving another short scream. 

Ino's teammates were yelling something and all the adults seemed poised to interfere. But before anyone could do anything, Sasuke's form clapped its hands together and gasped a choked "Kai!" 

Sasuke dropped to one knee, blinking uncertainly. Shaking his head, he stared at Ino's motionless form across from him, before glancing at the referee. The sickly jounin seemed as shaken as everyone else. Shooting his superior a quick glance, he quickly announced the end of the match and Sasuke's "victory".

Medics rushed into the arena, surrounding Ino, as her instructor tried to hold back her worried teammates. Kizuna finally broke free of her stupor and tried to jump down, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her. Giving her a meaningful look, Kakashi shook his head and disappeared. He reappeared next to Sasuke and quickly led the genin away from the field.

They didn't return during the next match, or the one after that.

Frankly, Kizuna didn't pay much attention to the next match, which started with only minimal delay as the medics carted away Ino's unresponsive body and Asuma pretty much dragged Shikamaru and Chouji off the arena. Kizuna could see the two still arguing heatedly on the other side of the catwalk. 

The match up was the Paint-freak from Sand (Kankuro, apparently) against an older Leaf genin named Misumi Tsurugi. The only things Kizuna remembered were that Make Up used puppets that could disguise themselves and that Tsurugi stretched, though that last bit didn't seem like it would be too important in the future. 

Instead, the kunoichi tried to talk to Kiba about _what the hell had just happened_. Her remaining teammate only shook his head, looking kinda sick. Not that she could blame him. Kizuna felt fairly unnerved herself.

When the next match started, Shikamaru was forced away from his continuing argument with his instructor to face Tsurugi's teammate Yoroi Akado. Kizuna didn't even bother trying to watch that one, instead focusing all her attention on Kiba.

"You know something!" she accused him angrily. "Why did that happen? What's wrong with Sasuke?" 

Kiba shook his head angrily. "I don't know!" he yelled back. "I don't know what the hell is wrong with Uchiha!"

"But you're hiding something!" she pressed on.

When he didn't deny it right away, Kizuna knew she was right. So why wouldn't he tell her? And what could it be?

"Did something happen in the forest? While I was out?" she asked. Kiba only looked away, glaring at some point on the far wall. "Something to do with that snake-freak?" she guessed.

Yes. That was it. But what? And why?

So… so, Kiba was hiding something that had happened between Sasuke and that snake freak, but he didn't know what it was, really, or why Ino had reacted like _that_. So why was he hiding it? Because he didn't want to worry her? Because he didn't want her to be grossed out?

Kizuna was dragged out of her thoughts by Shikamaru's victory, though the tactical genius hardly looked pleased.

The next fight was Tenten against the Sand girl, Temari. Trying to get her mind off her teammates, Kizuna cheered for her sempai, though it was a horrible match up for the older girl. Temari's wind techniques were a natural weakness for Tenten's projectiles, but Tenten gave her best.

Not that the Sand freaks appreciated it.

Scowling in anger for her sempai, Kizuna faced the next match with something almost like glee. Finally, a chance to turn her fury and frustration into something. 

Overhead, the screens read, "Uzumaki Kizuna vs. Gaara." 

-

-

Kiba had also been brooding since the first match of the preliminary round, his mind going in circles. That snake freak had bitten Uchiha, which made him grow suddenly stronger and sadistic. Then, Yamanaka goes into Uchiha's head and completely snaps at something in there. And then, Kakashi-sensei disappears with Uchiha for the duration of the next three matches.

Something was wrong with Uchiha. The adults knew something about it. There was nothing Kiba could do.

It all went round and round in his head, but always came back to that one last truth. There was nothing he could do. There wasn't really anything he knew. Damn. Damndamndamn.

He looked up in surprise as the fifth match was announced and Kizuna jumped into the arena without hesitation. It was against the last Sand-freak, and he looked even crazier than the last two. As the two genin faced each other, Kiba almost called out to his teammate, but Kizuna was probably still angry at him. Damn Uchiha. 

"Too bad for your little teammate," someone commented, making Kiba turn quickly. The second oldest of the Sand team sneered at him, clearly asking just what kind of ninja would let someone sneak up on them. Kiba shot him a dirty look.

"What do you care?" he growled, eyeing the foreigner up and down. "And don't write off Kizuna. She's tougher than she looks."

Kankuro only smirked. "Not tough enough to stand up to Gaara. And well… I'm just psyching myself up for the show."

"Screw you!" Kiba snarled, turning back to field angrily as the sickly referee announced the beginning of the match.

True to form, Kizuna charged, one fist drawn back. Gaara made no move to dodge as she attacked, and it quickly became clear why.

"What the hell?!" Kiba yelled as her fist met a sudden wall of sand. Judging by her expression, it was solid too. Kizuna jumped back automatically, eyeing her opponent with surprise and calculation. 

"Gaara's sand protects him against all attacks. That little brat doesn't stand a chance!" Kankuro crowed next to Kiba, making the dog user wonder if he didn't come over there just to have someone to gloat to.

"Shut up!" Kiba snarled back. Unfortunately, there seemed to be something to this sand shield, as it absorbed and returned the kunai Kizuna tried next. For her part, the kunoichi dodged easily and began to circle her opponent more warily. Kiba could see the gears turning; it must have been infuriating for her.

This sort of thing wasn't really Kizuna's strength, was it? She believed in hitting things really hard, and if that didn't work, hitting them some more.

"Man, she's even dumber than she looks!" Kankuro cheered next to Kiba as Kizuna threw three more kunai, with the same result. But Kiba could see the look of calculation on her face.

Kankuro started to laugh out loud as Kizuna threw another barrage, but his laughter was cut short as the kunai, which had started to be drawn into the sand, suddenly exploded. Exploding into action, Kizuna charged into the smoke. Wavering, the sand shield just managed to block, but Kizuna seemed to have anticipated this.

Kiba blinked, noticing suddenly she had struck open hand. As she kicked off, flipping up and landing on top of the shield, which just barely supported her weight, several white tags remained criss-crossed where she had struck.

Kizuna slammed both hands down onto the shield and flipped away, landing behind Gaara, just as the first set of tags exploded. As she spun around to attacks, the second set exploded as well. For a moment, both genin were hidden by a cloud of smoke and sand.

Then, Gaara flew out in a way Kiba recognized with a wince. And judging by the spiderweb of cracks spreading across left side of his face…. wait, what?

"Sh-she actually got through to Gaara's Sand Armor!" Kankuro exclaimed, making Kiba smirk.

Gaara crashed heavily, but by the time Kizuna reached him again, she was met with his shield again. Cursing, she jumped back and readied another kunai.

But as Gaara climbed to his feet again, his sand swirling around him, Kiba's smirk slid off his face. The killing aura coming from the Sand shinobi was almost palpable. For a moment, Kiba could only think of the forest and Uchiha _going insane_. All he wanted was to tell Kizuna to just run away.

Slowly, Gaara lifted his arm and torrent of sand rushed at Kizuna. The kunoichi jumped out of the way, but the sand quickly turned. As she avoided it again, another mass shot out, and another. With an explosive kunai, she blew off one and vaulted over another. But Kiba could see it was a losing battle.

Kizuna obviously knew it too. Being defensive wouldn't do anything for her, and she had be always believed in attacking head on. In a single free instant, she charged Gaara, flipping over another attack.

As she drew her fist back, Kiba could see a faint glow of chakra gathered in her hand. He remembered her discussion with Hyuuga a few weeks back. This was the kind of technique they had been talking about, taking control of an element by imbuing it with chakra. She was going to try to break the technique by forcing her own chakra into the sand.

Indeed, as her fist slammed into the shield, a wave of pale blue chakra spread over the sand. A circle in the shield dropped away, and Kizuna punched with her other hand, hitting Gaara on the right side now. The Sand shinobi stumbled away, even as his sand surged forward with renewed strength.

Without looking up, he raised his arm, fingers clawed. Kizuna tried to move back, gasping as the sand wrapped around her left arm like a cocoon. For a moment, their eyes met, and Gaara closed his fist.

Kiba's yell mixed with Kizuna's scream as the sand suddenly _squeezed_. He was sure he could hear the bone in her arm snapping under the pressure. Shocked and in pain, Kizuna was hauled up and throw into the wall like a ragdoll.

Kiba could see Gaara mouthing something and Kizuna glaring back as she shifted into a crouch, grasping her arm. The Sand shinobi's expression was feral and insane. His sand swirled around him and suddenly struck again. Kizuna barely managed to raise her other arm, quickly gathering chakra. For a moment, the sand flowed freely between her fingers as she neutralized Gaara's control. But her technique quickly faltered and the full force of the attack slammed her into the wall again. 

"S-Stop it!" Kiba yelled, throwing himself against the railing. "Kizuna! Forfeit! Stop!"

"Tch. Like he's gonna let her go now," Kankuro muttered darkly next to him. "She hurt him. Can't believe it…"

"Damn it!" Kiba screamed again as his teammate was tossed aside again, barely stirring now. "Someone do something!"

But it didn't seem like anyone would. Before he knew what he was doing, Kiba found himself vaulting over the railing, into the arena.

He didn't make it far as someone hauled him up and back. For a moment, the dog user flailed, trying to break free, but he stilled when he saw that the referee had called the end of the match, moving between Gaara and Kizuna, who lay unconscious and unmoving on the floor.

Tilting his head back, Kiba glared at Kakashi. "Where the hell have you been?! Let me go!" he demanded.

Wordlessly, his instructor dropped him, letting him run to his teammate's side. Medic-nin were already swarming around Kizuna, moving her onto a stretcher and trying to hold her arm steady. Making sure she was breathing, Kiba allowed himself to be shuffled out the way.

As the medic-nins disappeared off the arena, Kiba threw a glare to the winner of the match. Something in him – hell, most of him – quivered as their eyes met. Kiba shoved it down.

'Bastard. I'll get you in the third round. I'll make you pay,' he swore to himself.

- 

-

And, cut.

-

-

Next time: At the hospital, catching up and planning. One month of training.


	13. Exam Interlude 1

-

-

A/N: So yeah, a year.

Anyway, I've gotten into Naruto again, so I'm gonna work a little more on this story. I'm also gonna go back and redo some of the early chapters, but that's neither here nor there.

Everyone is disappointed, but I'd planned for Kizuna to lose against Gaara from the start, though it was way more boring than I had planned. I know everyone is wondering how Kizuna lost. It's pretty simple. She doesn't know how to use the Kyuubi's chakra at all. Remember, Naruto uses it for the first time when Sasuke is "killed", which is sort of like opening a door. From there, it seems to come easier and easier each time, like when he just uses it in the Forest of Death.

Kizuna has never used the Kyuubi's chakra and doesn't even know she has it. You could argue she was in a life threatening situation, but then, Naruto would have thought he was gonna die when he fought the two Mist chunin (Zabuza's flunkies) but nothing happened. Also, Kizuna was knocked unconscious quickly, with only a broken arm. Anyway, it would be ridiculous to have a Destined Battle in the middle of a tournament's prelim round.

-

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Chapter the Eleventh.

-

-

Kiba had been dozing in a chair in the visitor's lounge when Hinata burst in (or did as close to "bursting" as someone like Hinata could). Snapping awake, he knew right away by her smile and slight flush that Kizuna was awake. Together, they hurried back to the room where they had spent almost the entirety of the two days since the preliminary round of the Chuunin Exam had ended.

As they made their way into her hospital room, Kizuna waved lazily with her right arm, her left bound firmly in a cast. She seemed alright, all things considered, her skin color healthy and most of her other injuries already healed.

"So, how'd you do?" she asked, by way of greeting.

"Huh?" Kiba stammered, caught momentarily off guard, his face scrunching up in confusion. "In the prelims? I won, but forget about that-!"

"Congratulations," Kizuna cut him off easily. "Who else passed?"

"Uh, Hyuuga and that masked Sound guy," he replied automatically.

"That bastard Neji? Who did he face? And what about Bushy Eyebrows?" Kizuna shot back.

"Er, he faced Lee, but forget about that-"

Turning Hinata, who had lingered uncertainly in the face of the sudden interrogation, Kizuna raised an eyebrow. "Why are you still here? I'm sure Bushy Eyebrows would love a visit from a pretty girl to cheer him up."

"B-but Kizuna-kun, you-!"

"Go, go! I'm fine. And don't let him do anything stupid like train, or whine about being unworthy," Kizuna ordered, making a shooing motion at Hinata. "You know you want to~."

Pushing down a frown, Kiba nodded to the timid girl. "Don't worry, I'll look after Kizuna," he told her firmly. Glancing between them uncertainly, Hinata finally bowed and scrambled away. As Kizuna watched her fondly, Kiba settled into a chair next to the bed and gave the blonde kunoichi a firm glare.

"So, what'd I miss?" she asked, grinning unrepentantly.

Kiba glared for a moment longer, but sighed and gave in. He supposed it only made sense she wanted to catch up on everything, and the medic-nins had assured him that she was fine (between the dark looks, anyway).

"Well, the third round will be in a month," he began, thinking back. He hadn't actually been paying all that much attention by the end of the prelims, not after everything that had happened. "There'll be four matches: Uchiha against that Gaara, me against Hyuuga, Nara against that Sand girl, and that other Sand guy against that masked Sound guy."

Kizuna looked thoughtful for a moment, probably matching up the face with the "names" Kiba gave and trying to figure out how the rest of the prelims had gone. Shaking his head, Kiba continued, "Uchiha already took off. Kakashi came back during your match, but he wouldn't tell me anything. And now that stupid bastard's taken off to give Uchiha 'special training.'"

Honestly, Kiba wasn't all that surprised. Kakashi had always seemed to favor Uchiha a little, and everyone would expect great things from the "genius" in the third round. Still, the favoritism annoyed him. And the secrecy. And the sheer lack of concern for their third teammate.

Kizuna seemed to take it in stride, giving him a bright grin. "Gaara, huh? Sasuke'll need all the help he can get. That guy is…" Her eyes darkened for a moment. "…He's something else." Shaking her head, she gave Kiba an appraising look. "And what are you doing here anyway? Were you injured in your match? Who'd you face?"

Scratching his head, Kiba tried to answer the sudden onslaught of questions, "Well, no, not really. I'm fine. I fought that other Sound guy, Zaku or whatever. He wasn't all that tough." Not after Uchiha got through with him, anyway. "I'm visiting you." It came out naturally, but realizing how sappy he sounded, Kiba blushed furiously.

Kizuna laughed. "Well, I'm fine, stupid. Go train! You've gotta avenge my honor, and Bushy Eyebrows' honor and kick lots of butt!"

"Are you sure-?" he started, giving her a questioning look. She looked okay, but…

"I'm fine!" Kizuna assured him. "And… I'm really glad you… uh, worried about me and stuff," she trailed off. Clearing her throat, the kunoichi continued, "Anyway, Hinata-chan's here and she wouldn't just leave me, you know. So, go train hard. And, uh, yeah."

For a moment, Kiba just stared at her, surprised by her sudden uncertainty. For Kizuna, this was downright meek. Then, he snorted and shook his head. "Yeah, yeah, I'm going. I swear, I shall avenge you!" he declared dramatically, backing toward the door. "I will restore your honor, my fair lady!"

Ducking out into the hall just in time as Kizuna pitched a pillow at him, Kiba hurried home. She was right. He had a lot of training to do.

-

-

Having successfully sent away all her visitors, Kizuna carefully eased herself off the hospital bed and made her way into the hall. A quick chat with a young nurse told her who was still in the hospital and where. So, Ino-pig, Neji, and Lee were still around, and it seemed like Tenten-nee, Chouji and Shikamaru had just checked out.

Well, she'd better make her rounds.

Some might have questioned her priorities, but Kizuna's first stop was her rival's room, in a quiet, isolated corner of the hospital. Despite having been cleared for release, Chouji and Shikamaru were waiting beside the door labeled "Yamanaka I." Neither looked quite like her skipping buddies from the Academy, and both glanced up in surprise as she approached.

"Kizuna!" Chouji hailed her first. "You're up."

"Yo," the kunoichi waved with her right arm. "I... er, came to see how Ino-pig is doing..."

"She's still unconscious. The doctors aren't sure what's wrong. Her father's here to try some of their family techniques to see if he can wake her up," Shikamaru explained tersely. For a moment, all three were silent, tension heavy in the air. Then, the usually calm genius bit out, "Where's Uchiha?"

Kizuna shrugged, looking away uncomfortably. "He's not here. He and Kakashi-sensei already took off for training or something," she replied, a hint of bitterness creeping into her tone. She'd tried to put on a brave face for Kiba (no reason to give him more cause to hate their teammate), but just being left like that was... unpleasant. Sure, she'd lost, and her injuries weren't serious, but would it have killed either of them to leave a note or something?

"...Just what was that, Kizuna?" Chouji asked pensively after another tense silence. "Ino's technique never... went like _that_ before..."

The kunoichi shook her head. "I don't know. They won't tell me or Kiba anything."

Shikamaru gave her a long look, reading her expression and feelings quickly. Finally, he said, "Look, it doesn't seem like it's... permanent. Ino's dad thinks it's just shock or something. She'll wake up by the third round, probably."

"That's good," Kizuna replied honestly. It wasn't like... she hated Ino-pig. They were just rivals, and it wasn't even like they wanted the same thing. Ino wasn't a bad person, and she certainly didn't deserve... that. "Does... does Touka-kun know?" she asked hesitantly.

"Yeah, he came here with Hinata right after the prelims ended. His parents dragged him home to sleep a few hours ago..." Shikamaru shook his head. He and Chouji and Touka were all Ino's childhood friends, but Shikamaru and Chouji were closer to each other than to the kunoichi, and Touka and Ino had a special bond. "It'd be better if you didn't wait for him or anything," he told her instead.

Kizuna understood the implication. Ino's family wouldn't be happy to see her anywhere near their daughter. Wishing both of them luck, Kizuna wandered away, her mind jumbled even worse than before.

What was she supposed to do now? She'd lost. There wouldn't be any missions for Team 7 until after the Chuunin Exams, and maybe not even then, if one of the boys passed. Sasuke was gone, and Kiba would be too busy and too exhausted to have much time for her. Kakashi-sensei was gone too. Hinata-chan would still be doing missions.

Kizuna felt adrift and kinda… alone.

'What now?' she wondered again. And all her worries about Sasuke hadn't even been resolved either. 'What am I supposed to do?'

Shaking her head, Kizuna took a deep breath.

"Alright, right now, I'm gonna go see everyone!" she declared, drawing a few odd looks from the other people in the hallway. That's right, she had a (self-appointed) mission. There was no point in moping around. She'd just have to take it one step at a time.

Thinking about who to see next, Kizuna grimaced. Undeniably, she was disappointed that Bushy Eyebrows had lost. Of course, her feelings probably couldn't begin to compare to Lee's dejection. He'd trained so long and hard for that match, only to lose all the same.

But Lee was strong and determined. His flames of youth wouldn't go out that easily, Kizuna was sure. …And he had Hinata-chan to cheer him on.

Speaking of Neji…

"Might as well get it over with," she muttered in resignation. Neji would gloat, and he'd probably have something to say about her own defeat, but it would be better to face him while he was still in the hospital himself.

All too soon, Kizuna found herself facing a plain, non-descriptive door. For a moment, she considered just walking away, but that just wouldn't be right. Taking a deep breath, she quickly opened the door and strode in.

Neji looked decidedly worse for wear, even more covered in bandages than usual and sitting propped up with pillows, instead of his usual rigid posture. He seemed surprised to see her, but he didn't say anything as Kizuna moved to stand by his bed.

"…You're awake," he finally noted.

"Yeah," Kizuna agreed. "Heard you won. Congratulations."

Instead of gloating like she expected, Neji remained silent and thoughtful, only nodding in response. When it started to seem like he wouldn't say anything more, Kizuna began to edge toward the door. Maybe this had been a bad idea after all…

"You… fought well," Neji said suddenly, sounding unsure of himself.

Kizuna froze in her tracks, staring at him in complete bafflement. "Are you really Neji?" she finally blurted out.

The Hyuuga genius glared at her flatly. 'Yeah, it's Neji, but…'

"No 'fate'?" she asked in disbelief.

The glare strengthened, making Kizuna laugh nervously and scramble to the door. Once in the safety of the hallway, she breathed a sigh of relief and shook her head to clear away what felt like a bad trip. Sure, she'd always wanted Neji to stop being a stuck up jerk, but to have him suddenly do it (sort of) was just more than she could handle.

It was like… like Hinata-chan suddenly kissing Lee in public, or anywhere. Or like Ino giving up boys and make up. Or… or…

Well, it was _weird_.

Heading down the hallway to Lee's room, she almost ran into Hinata, who stammered a quick apology.

"Tenten-san came to visit Lee-kun, so I… um… thought, maybe…" Pushing her forefingers together, she glanced behind Kizuna nervously before looking to the floor again.

'Going to visit 'Neji-nii-san,' huh?' Kizuna thought. Normally, she didn't really trust that jerk alone with Hinata-chan, but those two needed to talk and Neji _was_ acting kinda okay…

"Eh? Tenten-nee is here?" Kizuna repeated with a cheerful grin. "I'm gonna go catch her, okay? See ya in a bit, Hinata-chan!" Waving, she turned away quickly and made a big show of bursting into Lee's room.

At her abrupt entrance, the two occupants froze. Looking at their position, Kizuna burst out laughing while Tenten blushed furiously and shoved Lee away. Apparently, Fuzzy Eyebrows had been trying to get up and his teammate had been trying to pin him down, resulting in a very… compromising position, to say the least.

Recovering from her embarrassment, Tenten waved to the younger girl. "Kizuna-chan! You're up! I dropped in earlier, but you were still sleeping… How do you feel?"

"I'm fine!" Kizuna exclaimed, though her point was a little undermined when she tried to wave with her cast. "Well, mostly. It's no big deal. How are you? And Fuzzy Eyebrows?"

"Oh, I'm fine," Tenten waved away her concern. "I wasn't even really injured… Lee, though, tch." Shooting her teammate a glare, she shook her head. "He used the next level of that technique, so he strained all his muscles and such. Talk about hopeless. Hardheaded too. Can you believe he already wants to get back to training?"

Unfortunately for Tenten, Kizuna was also rather hardheaded. "Yeah," the blonde agreed, "I wanna get back to training too…"

Tenten sighed again. "So do I, but at least I'm not injured. And you should take care! If you're reckless, your arm won't heal right, you know."

"Anyway," Kizuna cut in quickly, "I think Fuzzy Eyebrows hit Neji a little too hard. Genius-boy's acting real weird…"

"He is?" Tenten asked, raising one eyebrow. "We'll have to go see, then."

-

-

Lost in thought, Neji almost missed Hinata as she snuck in, a pale shadow against the sterile white walls. Well, he supposed this was his chance. It was time to face the music, as they say.

"Hinata-sama," he began but stopped, uncertain how to continue.

"Neji-nii-san," she returned fidgeting nervously. "H-how are you feeling? Ah…"

"I will recover shortly," Neji replied, inwardly a little surprised that she'd even tried to talk to him. The Hinata he had seen around the Hyuuga compound for years had never spoken unless spoken to. It was, he knew, that crazy blonde girl's influence. "Tenten said that Lee… will also recover," he offered.

"Uh… um, Lee-kun will be okay…" Hinata fidgeted again, edging closer to the bed. "The doctors want him to stay at the hospital for a week longer… but, um, he wants to start training again right away," she finished with a small smile and a blush.

Neji's first thought was quickly shoved into the deepest corner of his mind (something about "bowl cut morons" and "unworthy"). His second thought, he did his best to ignore ("She's still really cute").

His third thought was, "Sounds like Lee. So, he still hasn't given up."

"Lee-kun won't give up. He's not like that," Hinata said, with surprising strength. Immediately, she ducked her head, as if waiting for the repercussions. Instead of disagreeing as she expected, Neji looked away.

"No, he's not," he agreed. "Lee is… very strong."

For a moment, there was only stunned silence from Hinata. Finally, she ventured, "Neji-nii-san?"

"Lee… almost beat me, in our match. In the end, we both collapsed. He… was the first one to stand up, but…" Neji chuckled a little, "it didn't count because it seemed he was unconscious. Pulling himself up again seems to be something he does without thinking, an ingrained instinct. In the face of that kind of determination… How could I call myself a genius while lying there, having already given up?"

Hinata watched silently as her cousin fisted his hands in the white bed sheets, frustration etched in his face.

"When someone who had so little fought so hard, how could I just give up? What kind of shinobi, what kind of teammate… what kind of person was I, if I couldn't even face him with everything I had? So I… stood up."

Falling silent, Neji glanced at the younger girl, taking in her surprised expression. Eyes wide and pale blush on her cheeks, Hinata really did look very cute, just like she had when they first met. When he smiled at her, she smiled in return before ducking her head again.

Suddenly, the door to his room, which Hinata had closed so carefully when she came in, burst open and a flurry of green, pink and orange came crashing in.

"Neji-san! My eternal rival!" Rock Lee declared, posing in front of Neji's bed. "I swear I will train harder, work longer! Next time! Next time I will match your flames of you-"

"Shut up, Lee!" Tenten yelled, punching Lee firmly in one cheek. "Back to bed, right NOW!"

Neji thought Lee was rather lucky it wasn't Uzumaki that punched him. Instead, the blonde had glomped Hinata and was now laughing her head off. Tenten rounded on her next, pointing imperviously at Uzumaki.

"Same to you! What do you think you're doing with that arm? I told you not to be reckless!" Maybe this was where Uzumaki got that personality, Neji thought suddenly. It was all his crazy teammates' fault.

-

-

A/N: Some notes. No, I don't support Neji and Hinata together. He just thinks she's cute like a pet or a little kid. So, uh, yeah. And Lee totally did stand up unconscious after his match with Gaara. And I also can't remember the name of the technique that comes after Initial Lotus (Omote Renge). Although, probably, it's something like Ura Renge.

I guess everyone is also gonna be disappointed that Lee lost, but I think it's really likely. Neji already knows about Initial Lotus (as is mentioned after Team 7 returns from Wave country; Lee used it to defend Hinata's honor (?)), so he would have thought about how to counter it. Also, Kaiten is nothing to sneeze at. Neji is a true genius, I think, and very, very strong.

Also, Lee at least won Neji's respect and started him down the path to fate-less-ness.

-

-

After finishing up her visits, Kizuna quickly saw about getting herself released. She'd always healed fast, so her only remaining injury was her arm, bound in a special gray ninja cast. As she gathered her things and made her way to the entrance, Tenten and Hinata caught up with her.

"Checking out already?" Tenten asked slightly. "What's the matter? No interested in enjoying the delicious hospital food?"

Kizuna made a face. "Nothing in the world can match the wonder of ramen!"

Tenten laughed and Hinata giggled quietly, both glad to see their friend in apparent good spirits. Suddenly, Tenten's look turned calculating and dangerous. "You're not thinking something stupid like running off and training, are you, Ki-zu-na?" she drew out slowly.

"Eh- Well…" Kizuna laughed nervously and drew away. She'd been thinking exactly that.

"No way! No allowed!" Tenten declared, holding her arms in an "x" in front of her.

"But what am I supposed to do?" Kizuna almost wailed. "No missions, no training, I'll die!"

"A-anou," Hinata stammered quietly, making both girls instantly fall silent, "why don't we all d-do something t-together? T-to celebrate Kizuna-kun's release…"

"That's a great idea," Tenten beamed.

"Let's get ramen!"

"How about… going to a hotspring?" Tenten suggested, completely ignoring Kizuna's single-minded demands. "It's very relaxing, and I'm still feeling a bit sore myself… Yeah, let's go! I know a great place!"

'A h-hot spring?' Hinata thought, blushing furiously. That meant… getting undressed around strangers…

'A hot spring?' Kizuna thought with a sense of dread. That inevitably meant more stupid jokes about being flat as a board.

'A hot spring!' Tenten thought, imagining a nice relaxing soak.

Let's just say only two out of three were right.

-

-

"Ah, this is heaven," Tenten sighed, relaxing back against the side of the hot spring. The ache of her many bruises began to recede even as her cuts stung a little. Next to her, Hinata blushed furiously and sank even deeper into the water, clutching her towel closer.

Instead of joining them in the relaxing hot water, Kizuna took a cautious step onto the pool. Her usually-patchy control was obviously wavering, and the blonde pinwheeled her unbroken arm to maintain her balance.

"My control's all shot," she griped, taking another tentative step.

"You're worse than Lee sometimes," Tenten chided mildly. "Relax, will you."

Seemingly glad for the distraction, Hinata offered, "Should I take a look?"

At Kizuna's grateful smile, she activated her family's famous bloodlimit… and froze. Tenten and Kizuna stared at her in growing worry. Hinata slowly drew a deep breath…

And screamed.

Just beyond the fence separating the hot spring from the street, someone tripped and crashed to the ground in surprise. Kizuna's quick mind instantly made the connection, and she lauched herself at the source of the trouble, mowing down the wooden fence.

"Kizuna!" Tenten yelled, part chastisement, part encouragement, scrambling for her clothes and weapons. Hinata, meawhile, seemed completely petrified with embarrassment, sitting now silently in the same spot even as waves of hot water crashed over her.

"You! Pervert!" Kizuna growled, glaring at the peeping tom. He was certainly colorful, with long white hair and bright red clothes. "I'll kill you!" she raged, drawing back her fist.

His shock wearing off, the man smirked. "Do your best, sweetheart," he challenged, looking her up and down, his expressing drooping in disappointment at a certain area. "What do you think you're going to do with one arm?"

Furious, Kizuna sank her fist into the ground, the man flipping away with surprising speed and grace.

"Ohoho!" he crowed, "That temper of yours is just like a certain someone else I know!" Pausing, he grimaced. "Too bad you don't match her where it really counts," he muttered, his eyes lingering on her chest. "Hey, are you even really a girl?"

Tenten winced as Kizuna positively shrieked in rage. Having retrieved her things and thus armed, the older girl was ready and willing to help her friend take revenge for all of womankind. As Kizuna attacked with even more passion than before and the man continued to dodge, Tenten took careful aim. A three-pronged sai flew through the air gracefully, perfectly times to pass into the man's long ponytail and pin it to the ground. In his moment of confusion, Kizuna was on him, bloodlust in her eyes.

Feeling satisfied that justice (and then some) was about to be served, Tenten headed back into the damaged hot spring. Hinata was still stunned in a corner, and Tenten sighed a little as she pulled the younger girl to her feet and drapped her jacket over her.

Nearby, the pervert _howled_.

Kizuna seemed determined to take her justice straight out of him, her hand fisted in his thick hair and her teeth deep in one of his hands as she clung to his back. The man danced around wildly, flaying and trying to get her off without losing any other parts of himself – an impressive measure of his ponytail having been separated from him and still pinned by Tenten's sai. Preoccupied as he was, the man completely failed to notice the tripwire Tenten hastily set up in his path.

"Who's a helpless cripple now/!" Kizuna taunted as the man crashed to the ground, his feet tangled in wire, the blonde still perched on his back.

"Don't get arrogant!" he yelled back, adding in a mumble, "Just because I don't want to hurt a bunch of little girls…"

"As if some old pervert could! I'm a ninja!"

The man twitched. Suddenly, faster than the kunoichi could follow, he burst into action, throwing off Kizuna, freeing himself and landing a few feet away in a showy pose.

"I'm Jiraiya of the Sannin! The Toad Sage! Women everywhere cheer at my coming!" he declared, gesturing grandly.

"Women everywhere cry is more likely," Kizuna said flatly, entirely unimpressed.

Having actually paid attention in class, Tenten recognized the name. "Jiraiya of the Sannin? Tsunade-hime's teammate?"

Jiraiya slumped a little, looking disgruntled. "Well, yes, she's my teammate, but is that really all you know about me? Kids these days…" he groused.

"Whatever! I don't care if you're the Sage of Six Ways, you're gonna pay for peeking on us! You traumatized Hinata-chan!" Kizuna yelled.

"Pay?" Jiraiya muttered, twitching again. "With what, a pound of flesh?" He eyed Kizuna, rubbing his hand, which bore some impressive teeth marks.

"That works," Kizuna agreed, baring her teeth.

"We're willing to accept something else too," Tenten quickly put in.

Kiraiya kept his eyes on them as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Then, how about a special copy of my masterpiece?" he suggested, pulling out a brightly colored orange book.

"Hell no!" Kizuna roared. "I know that! That's the perverted trash that scarecrow's always reading!" A moment, then… "_You_ wrote it?!"

As Jiraiya actually backed away a little, Tenten laid a restraining hand on Kizuna's shoulder. "Try again," she suggested to the sage.

"Tch. I don't owe you brats anything!" Jiraiya proclaimed, obviously thinking that paying them off was more trouble than it was worth.

"You try running off and I'll make your life hell," Kizuna hissed. "You'll never come six feet to a woman here, you pervert. I'll make sure of it!"

"Doesn't your teacher train you?" Kiraiya asked irritably.

Kizuna shrugged, and Tenten suddenly thought that the girl really was upset after all. "He ran off to train my teammate for the exam finals," Kizuna said a little too casually. "And that means I've got lots of time to deal with you!"

Studying her for a moment, Jiraiya shrugged and grimaced. "Fine, fine. If it'll get you to leave me alone, in my greatness, I'll teach you something interesting."

Kizuna eyed him distrustfully.

"Each of us," she demanded.

"Not a chance!" Jiraiya quickly objected.

"Hey, you owe all of us, you-"

In the confusion, Hinata had pulled herself together and moved outside. Now, she cut in hesitantly. "Um, it's okay, Kizna-kun. I-I still have to take missions with my team…"

As Kizuna turned to Tenten instead, the older girl held up her hands. She hated to do it like this, but the pervert _was_ famous and strong. This was Kizuna's chance. "Sorry, but I'm gonna have my hands full keeping my idiots from killing themselves in training."

Kizuna huffed, turning back to Kiraiya and narrowing her eyes. "Fine. But I want to learn an elemental jutsu!"

Jiraiya sighed heavily. "Then put on some clothes and meet me by the river," he ordered.

Kizuna's screech followed him as he hurried away.

-

-

Next chapter: a surprise.

-

-


	14. Exam Interlude 2

-

-

Chapter the Twelfth.

-

-

"So how do you plan to make signs with only one hand?" Jiraiya drawled, gingerly rubbing the bump on his head – earned by peeking when Kizuna arrived.

"You can too make signs with one hand," Kizuna protested. "I saw a guy do it." Well, actually, Sasuke saw and told her, but whatever.

"Yeah, but do _you_ know how?" Jiraiya shot back.

"You can't teach me?" Kizuna taunted.

"I only agreed to one technique."

'Cheapskate,' Kizuna thought. "Well, can't I do it without signs, like Kawarimi (replacement) or Henge (transform)?"

"Are you that advanced?" Jiraiya asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Are you gonna teach me or not?" Kizuna demanded, losing her patience.

Jiraiya waved her temper off. "Fine, fine. So what's your affinity?" All he got was a blank look. Sighing, he pulled out a piece of paper and held it out to her. "Alright. There's five elements, and if I'm going to teach you an elemental technique, I might as well teach you the element you've got a predisposition for."

"It split in half," Kizuna declared flatly.

"Wind," Jiraiya nodded to himself, having expected this outcome and already mentally running through his (impressive) Fuuton repertoire.

"Well, that's alright, I guess," Kizuna said reluctantly. "But I kinda wanted water or earth…"

Jiraiya stared at her for a moment. "For offense, wind is the best element," he pointed out. "Why water or earth? Fire, I could see…"

Kizuna shrugged. "Fire, and lightning too I guess, is a kind of energy, so you'd change the, uh, nature of your chakra into it, but I want to learn how to put my chakra _into_ an element. So water or earth. It's kinda… research."

Jiraiya nodded slowly. "Well, it's not that simple, but we'll go with that. Wind is the same. Most techniques will use the air that's already around you, instead of, say, water, where you might have to create your own. Wind is strong against lightning, but bad against fire, since it'll only strengthen it. Though it combines well if your allies use a fire jutsu in tandem."

Kizuna nodded, her expression attentive, making Jiraiya cough into a fist. He'd forgotten what it was like to teach and be the focus of some young, malleable mind's attention, having them absorb every word. "Well, anyway, we'll set the goal at _Fuuton: Kazekiri_ (Wind Release: Wind Cutter)… but you're going to need the basics first."

-

-

"Alright, that's enough for today," Kurenai decided, gesturing to her students. Nodding to the others, Shino left quickly – probably to continue training on his own or with his clan.

Giving Touka a faint smile, Kurenai asked, "Going to the hospital?"

Touka nodded, returning her smile for the first time since the results of the Chuunin Exam's preliminary third round became known. Having the normally pleasant boy so morose had been very disconcerting, and Kurenai was glad her "apprentice" was feeling better.

"Ino-chan woke up yesterday," he said.

"That's good," Kurenai replied honestly.

Touka half-bowed, his smile turning apologetic. "I'm sorry I've been missing our usual genjutsu training. I'll make up for it, sensei."

"It's alright, I understand," Kurenai assured him. "Having a friend injured is always difficult. And no one really expects to get much done before the exam ends."

"Yes," Touka agreed, his smile somehow menacing.

Sure, Ino had woken up. But Ino was his first and closest friend. Touka would never forget the tiny blonde girl who had ruffled his hair and said she thought the color was perfect. He would never forget the willful kunoichi in training who had declared his pleasant, perpetual smile annoying.

If he was angry, he should be angry, she said. Always be yourself, because your self will always be worth more than a pale imitation – whether an imitation of a saint or a devil.

And Touka was spectacularly angry.

Sharingan or not, genius or not, Touka was going to make Uchiha very sorry. Genjutsu specialists were especially vicious, after all.

"You're planning something nasty, aren't you?" Ino said flatly, eyeing him from where she was propped up against several pillows. "You're not going to try to get revenge on Sasuke-kun, are you?"

Touka positively beamed.

Ino sighed. "Don't get so angry on my behalf. You really like Sasuke-kun, and I don't want you to do something you'll regret because of me."

"It's not that I _like _Uchiha-kun," Touka said. "I just thought… we're kind of alike. People always see whatever they want when they look at us, but they don't know what we're really like. So in that sense…" He frowned. "But no matter what I think of Uchiha, I can't forgive him for hurting you."

Ino sighed again. "Don't be so hard on him. I don't think Sasuke-kun wanted to hurt me. But he's connected to something… there's something in Sasuke-kun that's not Sasuke-kun, and it's… evil."

Touka's smile slipped into a thoughtful look.

-

-

"Ino-pig woke up? That's good. I'm glad," Kizuna said, giving Hinata a sunny smile.

Hinata returned the smile tentatively. "How is your training?"

Kizuna scowled. "Che. That pervert just ran off and left me here!" She was crouched on top of a still shallow at the edged of a narrow river, holding a leaf in between her palms. Angrily, she brandished the greenery at Hinata. "Cutting leaves! Can you believe it? To learn to use wind techniques, I need to cut a leaf! A leaf! It's barely frayed!"

"Um…" Looking up, she met Hinata's activated Byakugan. "Maybe ... you should try it another way," the Hyuuga suggested. "I mean, Kizna-kun, you're n-not very good at delicate things…" Kizuna gave Hinata an encouraging smile as she momentarily trailed off. "S-so maybe it'd be better to do it Kizuna's way – like, um, we did with the trees."

"O~h," Kizuna drew out, brightening.

"Trees" was their short hand for the incredible fiasco of Hinata teaching Kizuna to mold chakra… Kizuna being Kizuna, this included destroying a lot of trees.

(Well, more accurately, Hinata hadn't really known how to explain molding chakra, but she couldn't work up the courage to tell the loud blonde cheery girl that. Instead, she'd tried to explain how she'd learned, which was through Jyuuken... It was kind of the same, right? You just expelled pure chakra from your hands, and it was like molding, really. There hadn't been any people to practice on, so they'd stuck to hitting trees... which Kizuna at first managed to crack so extensively that they collapsed. Of course, being impaled by pieces of wood and hit by falling branches had been good motivation to learn control. Overall, both Kizuna and Hinata saw this as a great teaching success.)

"Heeyy, that's a good idea," Kizuna agreed, warming up to the plan, of sorts. Thinking for a moment, she stuck the tip of her leaf in her mouth and pulled out a kunai. As Hinata gasped and tried to form a protest, Kizuna hooked the edge of the blade under her cast and roughly sawed through it. Pulling off the remains, she swung her arm around carefully.

Beaming, she made a thumbs-up at Hinata, who could only let out a shaky breath.

Kizuna threw the leaf into the air and drew back both hands, gathering her chakra. As she clapped her palms together, she released everything she'd accumulated in one go, chanting to herself, "Cut, cut, cut."

Focusing too much on her technique, Kizuna lost concentration and dropped into the water.

Well, the leaf didn't… really get cut. More like, it was torn apart, leaving a kind of thready paste between her palms. Releasing it, Kizuna winced. Her hands burned, as if she'd ground them over a rock or something. It was kind of like rope burn, actually.

'It must the friction from too much chakra,' Kizuna realized.

Shaking her hands, she waded out onto the shore and sighed. "Okay, that's a start," she decided. "Wind's supposed to be all sharp and cutting, but I guess I'll just have to work on that..."

"Is this really okay?" Hinata wondered.

Kizuna picked up another leaf. "Sure it is. I'm even healed already." Now she just had to get it more focused. And preferably not affecting herself. It would take a while.

-

At the half way mark of the month, Tsume told Kiba to take a day off and all but kicked him out of the house. She probably expected him to loaf off somewhere or just go to sleep in a tree. And normally, she'd be right.

But Kiba felt that, in one sense, he'd gained a better understanding of his teammates since the Chuunin Exam. Now, he understood their obsessive dedication to getting stronger.

Now, Kiba was a dedicated shinobi, so instead of wasting the day away, he went to check on his teammate… and pump her for info.

His first opponent would be Neji. It would be too much to hope that Sasuke would agree to trade slots with him, so if Kiba wanted to avenge Kizuna, he'd have to go through the Hyuuga first. And Neji was no push over.

"Hyuuga fighting?" Kizuna mused. "Eh, they're mostly close-combat with their special Juuken, Gentle Fist, style. It, uh, uses the Byakugan to see the special weak spots in your body and hit them precisely. They force chakra out of their hands to do internal damage…"

Kiba nodded. "Yeah, I saw in his fight with Lee. He's fast and pretty strong. But I'm more worried about this move he did… He spun around really fast to make this chakra shield, kinda."

And it was a really strong move too. It had knocked away Lee, even when he used his Lotus technique, though just barely.

Kizuna didn't reply right away, instead picking up another leaf, tossing it in the air, then clapping her hands over it. Grimacing faintly, she opened her palms and let the pieces fall down. She was getting something like cuts now (which also, incidentally, bit into her palms), but they were like a dull knife and not always all the way through the leaf.

"Um, yeah. I saw it once…" Kizuna's expression made it pretty clear she'd done something improper to cause the demonstration. Probably, it had involved the Hyuuga clan and sharp, pointed things, or maybe paint, or eggs. "It's a kinda ultimate defense move. They release charka from all over their body and spin to give it momentum, so it can knock stuff away. The spinning part's important, I think…"

'Spinning chakra,' Kiba thought to himself. 'That's kind of like Tsuuga, but in one place…'

-

-

_"You're just going to leave?" Kiba demanded, baring his teeth. "Kizuna still hasn't woken up!"_

_Sasuke turned away, shrugging one shoulder. "I need to get stronger. I don't have time to waste."_

_Kiba stared at him for a moment before scowling fiercely. "You think Kizuna's weak! She's not!"_

_He hadn't really been thinking that. Or maybe he had been. Sasuke wasn't sure what he thought about Kizuna's defeat, but he knew that the one who beat her would be his opponent, and he needed to get stronger, especially with the Cursed Seal constantly interfering._

_"Kizuna's not weak!" Kiba pressed on hotly. "She might have lost, but she won't lose a second time! She'll get stronger and stronger! She'll never give up!"_

"Never give up," Sasuke repeated to himself as he launched into another taijutsu sequence. Kakashi had left him to his own devices, promising to return later to continue teaching Sasuke his prize assassination technique, but for now, Sasuke had a few hours of solitude… which he, of course, used to train.

Suddenly, a wave of killing intent washed over the area, making Sasuke freeze for a moment. Regaining his senses, he spun around to face his opponent and came face to face with Gaara. The two locked stares and stood at an impasse.

"Uchiha Sasuke," Gaara said slowly. "You are my prey. Fight me."

Sasuke scowled, but the expression made him think of his teammates. "Contestants aren't allowed to fight before the third exam," he replied. "We'll be disqualified."

"I don't care," Gaara declared. "You are my prey. Fight me."

"Why are you so fixated on me?" Sasuke asked instead. "Go fight someone else."

Gaara's flat gaze didn't waver. "No. You… you felt the same hate and betrayal as I have. Your hate… makes you a strong opponent. Now, show me the power of your hate and pain."

Although he tried to keep his face expressionless, Sasuke couldn't help shuddering a little at Gaara's words. Betrayal, hate, power – it was all too familiar. Shaking his head, Sasuke began to back away slowly. "No," he bit out. "I'll fight you in a week, but until then, I don't want to see your face again."

The two sank into silence for several long moments before Gaara's eyes narrowed a little and he asked, "Are you scared?" The tone wasn't quite mocking but the question still made Sasuke's fists clench in agitation. His glare made Gaara shift a little, though he couldn't be sure in what emption if any. "You are not afraid. That girl wasn't afraid either."

It took Sasuke a moment to realize that Gaara meant his teammate. He snorted. "Of course not. Kizuna isn't a coward. She never backs down."

"She hit me. But she was still weak. We were interrupted, but I will kill her soon," Gaara said, his eyes narrowing again.

Glaring, Sasuke bit out, "You won't. And she's not. Kizuna won't lose a second time. …And it doesn't matter. Because I'll beat you myself." Meeting Gaara's flat, emotionless gaze, Sasuke declared, "You'll never get near my teammate again."

Gaara considered him silently for several long moments, the tension building and building. "I will kill you," he finally pronounced. "We will fight in one week, and I will kill. But first…" Turning, Gaara began to walk away, "I will kill your weak teammate."

Sasuke's world seemed to freeze and shudder, a million thoughts crashing through his mind. _I'll kill them first and you can't stop me… and then I'll come for you_. What a familiar thought and promise. Yes, he'd heard that before, hadn't he? He'd lost everyone because he'd been weak, he hadn't even had a chance to save them. And now this _freak_ was promising the same, _all over again_.

_There's no way_.

Before he knew what was happening, Sasuke found himself rushing Gaara, his hand full of chakra, the wild chirping of a thousand birds in the air.

Gaara turned back, his sand rising automatically, but Sasuke's Chidori plowed through his "ultimate" shield and straight into his shoulder. Time seemed to pause, and Sasuke realized his hand was wet, and warm.

Gaara shrieked, a high-pitched, _inhuman_ sound. It drove a flash of adrenaline through Sasuke, forcing his suddenly-tired body to move as the sand went berserk, shooting up in spikes every which way. His Sharingan was a struggle to maintain, even the single Chidori living him exhausted, but Sasuke didn't dare for a moment to let his blood-limit flicker out. It was the only thing keeping him from death.

All his attention was focused on keeping away from the sand, so Sasuke completely missed Kakashi's arrival until the jounin wrapped an arm around his middle and pulled him out of the fray. Mixed with a surge of gratitude was a pang of frustration as Sasuke noticed that his teacher had no trouble keeping ahead of Gaara's attacks.

"Blood! I'm bleeding! Mother! Mother!" Gaara screamed behind them. "I'll kill you! I'll kill you!"

"It doesn't seem like he'll calm down easily," Kakashi noted quietly. "It'll be best to just get out of here."

With a brief surge of chakra, he created several clones, each one holding a "Sasuke" and each one racing off in a different direction. Still disoriented by the pain, Gaara didn't even seem capable of pursuing one, much less all of them, leaving Kakashi and Sasuke free to race away more or less unscathed.

It was a long time before Kakashi put him down again, when they reached the tree line of Konoha's forest.

"What were you _doing_?" Kakashi demanded shortly. "You know you're forbidden to fight."

He was going to take everyone away again, some part of Sasuke thought.

But there was no way he'd say that. The thought, and his confused feelings, were buried away and Sasuke only glared. "He was going to kill me," Sasuke said flatly. Let Kakashi interpret that as he would.

Kakashi's single eye was serious and angry, and for a moment, Sasuke wondered if the jounin saw right through his deception – or if maybe Kakashi had been watching the entire time. "This isn't over," he threatened. "We're returning to Konoha until the third round. And you better stay out of trouble this time."

-

-

Wind Release: Wind Cutter (Fūton: Kazekiri) – A large slicing wind which can cut through the opponent. This can be used to immobilize large summons. Used by an unnamed ANBU against Pain (~spoiler?)

Short chapter this time~


	15. Exam Interlude 3: End

A/N: As I'm sure you're all confused, you should know that I'm doing revisions. I split what used to be chapter 8 into two parts, to separate the start of round two.

I've got a new first chapter, which I'll use (soon) instead of the first three I've got now. Also almost done with Wave Arc, but now I'll need to redo most of round two as well...

I think I might change Haruno's first name again. Touka is a very obscure word… I'm thinking of maybe Sakaki. It's sort of visually similar to Sakura too. It's a kind of tree that's considered sacred and appears in Shinto rituals.

But, what in the world did I write to make everyone think Kiba/Kizuna? Just so you know, there aren't really any pairings, and if there were, they wouldn't be within Team 7. They really screwed themselves over with all the romantic crap in canon, so I'm not gonna go for that.

-

-

Kakashi had been brooding openly on the way back to Konoha, his pace slow and even. Despite his easiness, Sasuke had refused to show any sign of agitation or hurry the jounin along. Any show of weakness was a loss that he wasn't willing to accept, and frankly, Sasuke wasn't even willing to accept that he _was_ concerned.

Maybe he should have just told Kakashi about Gaara threatening Kizuna… but Sasuke _didn't care_. He just didn't care about her or dog-breath. They'd manage. They weren't his problem.

Still, he did wish they had gone faster.

When they finally arrived in Konoha, at sunset, Kakashi had fixed him with a serious look for a long moment before very clearly ordering him home until the next day. Sasuke noted that Kakashi didn't even promise to continue training, simply to come see Sasuke tomorrow.

Sasuke nodded sharply, if sullenly, and headed home. He had no doubt that Kakashi would make him wait for the better part of the day tomorrow, or that Kakashi would have some very serious words of reprimand for him (which he had probably only escaped so far because Kakashi didn't trust his self-control), or, for that matter, that Kakashi would tail him home.

-

-

'Three weeks,' Kizuna thought in disgust. 'I can't believe it took me _three weeks_ to figure out how to use wind nature chakra.'

Well, Jiraiya had certainly seemed impressed when she tracked him down (and promptly beat him up) a few days ago to show that she finally, _finally_ could cut all the way through a leaf – in half, with a nice, even cut. He had originally planned to set her to cut a waterfall next, but the upshot of Kizuna's 'special' training method was that putting _more_ chakra into it wasn't a problem. And it wasn't like she was short on chakra either.

So the waterfall-cutting had been accomplished in just a few days; she'd done it just before sunset that day. Of course, the old pervert had refused to teach her in the soon-to-be dark and sent her off with a promise to start on the actual _Kazekiri_ technique the next morning.

Kizuna stretched, biting back a yawn. As much as she hated to admit it... she'd really worn herself out.

But all thoughts of food and rest fled her mind as a wave of killing intent washed over the area. Drawing a kunai, she spun around to face the threat... and found herself facing Gaara. 'Shit,' was her first thought. Considering her previous spectacular defeat and her current, less than optimal state, this was a very, _very_ bad situation.

Then all her higher brain functions caught up and Kizuna frowned. If she wasn't at her best, then Gaara seemed downright at his worst. His posture was slumped, his clothes were worn and dirty... and a dark stain on one shoulder drew her attention. 'Is that... blood?' she wondered.

"Eh... Gaara?" Kizuna called, swallowing against the sheer _hate_ in the air.

He muttered something, too low to hear at first but gradually rising in volume. "...kill..." he chanted, "I'll... you... I'll kill you. I'll kill you!" His head snapped up, and Kizuna could see his bloodshot eyes and the growing cracks in his Sand Armor.

His sand surged forward, but it was far more sluggish than before, sections falling away even as it attacked. Dodging the first barrage, Kizuna blocked against the second, and most of it simply flowed around her. Spitting out a bit that had managed to get in her mouth, she jumped away.

'Should I make a break for it? Should I wait until he wears himself out?' Honestly, she had no idea what to do. Was this even allowed?

Well, she wasn't about to just stand there and get killed. As another mass of sand shot toward her, Kizuna drew back one hand. 'Alright, mold, concentrate and...!' Thrusting against the sand, she released her chakra. The sand exploded in all directions, but the force of the strike carried through, an unfocused blast of wind slamming into Gaara's sand shield.

The shield held, but just barely, and Gaara fell to his knees as his chakra reserves ran pretty much dry. Across their impromptu battlefield, Kizuna dropped into a crouch as well, suddenly feeling the strain of the entire day.

"What the hell?" she called out angrily. "You're not supposed to fight outside the exam! What's wrong with you?!"

"I'll... kill you," Gaara promised, his sand twitching as he sent more chakra into it, but not quite enough to move it to attack.

Kizuna scowled. "Why? You've got something against me?"

"No," Gaara muttered, slowly rising to one knee. "I'm going to kill you… because I want to."

With anger giving her a burst of strength, Kizuna jumped to her feet and glared. "Don't think I'm going to go down easy, just because you beat me before! I've been training, you know," she declared. "I won't be killed by the likes of you!" But underneath her bluster, she was just a bit disconcerted. 'This guy is kinda like Zabuza,' she thought. 'He kills just for the thrill of it…'

Gaara's face split into a sickly grin that made Kizuna's stomach turn a little. "I'll kill you," he repeated again. "I'll kill you… and feel the joy of living. You, and everyone in this world, exist only to be killed by me… I exist to kill every human beside myself…"

"Every other human..? What? But..! What about your family? Your friends? You.. don't plan to kill them, do you?" Of course, Kizuna couldn't imagine that. But hadn't Zabuza _bragged_ about killing every member of his graduating class?

"Family…" Gaara paused, his expression odd. "You want to know what kind of connection that is to me? They're simply pieces of meat, connected to me with murderous intent and hatred."

"That's not family!" Kizuna protested. "Families… families look out for each other. Families love each other!"

"Love? Don't measure me by your standards… I was created to be the village's greatest masterpiece, by sacrificing my mother's life. To make me the ultimate shinobi, my father attached an incarnate of sand, Shukaku, to me through ninjutsu. My father taught me the shinobi secrets, spoiled and allowed to do as I pleased. …I thought that was love."

"That's… not love," Kizuna whispered.

"No," Gaara agreed. "I was not loved. I was… betrayed. Since that incident… For the last six years, my own father has tried to assassinate me countless times!"

Kizuna shook her head, taking a step back at Gaara's gleeful, insane smile. "What..? Why?! That's just… That's just wrong! That's not… that's not what family should do…"

"A being too strong can become an existence of fear. To my father, the Kazekage, I was the village's trump card, but.. at the same time, I was also a very dangerous being. Back then, it seems, I was determined to be too dangerous. I became a relic of the part they wished would just disappear."

Kizuna shivered, sympathy welling up despite the fact that they were enemies, that he was obviously _insane_, but Gaara only continued to smile madly.

"Then…" he continued, "I wondered, why do I exist? Why am I alive? I couldn't find an answer. But as long as you live, you need a reason. Otherwise it's the same as being dead. But then, I found relief within the constant fear of death, by killing the assassin that came after me, I understood my reason to continue living…"

"Killing as your reason?" Kizuna wondered. "And, you're going to kill me because of that?"

"Yes," Gaara agreed. "I will kill you, and I will kill Uchiha Sasuke."

She'd expected that first part, but the second name threw Kizuna for a moment. "Sa… Sasuke?! Leave him out of this!" she yelled.

Gaara shuddered, bringing one hand to the tattoo on his forehead. "Why..?" he muttered. "He… was the same. Why do you protect each other?"

"He's my teammate! And my dear friend!" Kizuna declared boldly. She shook her head. "You… you prove your existence by killing others. But I find my proof and my reason in my friends! In the people I care about, who care about me!"

"You… care about him…" Gaara said slowly, his face scrunched in pain. "He cares… about you? No. No, he's the same as me. He has the same eyes as I do… filled with hatred and death, that long for strength. He felt the same pain as I did… and he wants to kill the one who put him through the hell of loneliness. He wants to determine if he deserves to live… He wants to know if he's really strong enough, stronger than the one he's dying to kill…"

'Yeah, Sasuke said he wants to kill someone, but he… he was really that lonely?' Kizuna wondered. 'Even though he's got so many people who look up to him and smile at him, he still feels completely alone? I… I hadn't realized… But is he really…?'

Slowly lowering his hand, Gaara stared at her. "He's like me… a person who cannot be loved and who cannot love another. He exists only for his selfish hatred and search for power…"

"You're wrong!" Kizuna declared, shaking away her confusion and fear. "You don't know anything about Sasuke! He's not alone! He has me and Kiba! We won't abandon him! We won't betray him! He has us, his friends! He doesn't have to rely on something as empty as hatred for his reason!"

"You…" Gaara said slowly. "Yes… I'll kill you, and then he will fight me with all of his hatred…"

Kizuna's eyes widened as his sand began to rise around him, the cracks in the Sand Armor closing. She'd been the one who stalled for time, but Gaara was the one who ended up ready to fight.

But before he could attack, their fight was interrupted by the rest of the Sand team. The other two genin held back, glancing nervously between her and Gaara, but their jounin instructor jumped between them, though the half of his face Kizuna could see spoke clearly of his fear.

"Gaara," the Sand jounin began, "we're forbidden from fighting outside the exam. Please stop immediately."

Gaara's eyes narrowed. "I don't care. I'll kill her."

"Gaara, please remember your father's orders," the jounin tried again. "Remember… the plan."

The single Sand kunoichi stepped forward, clasping her hands together and attempting to smile. "Come on, Gaara, you'll be able to fight a lot of strong people soon. Just another week…"

As he turned toward her, the kunoichi tensed, ready to flee, but Gaara only regarded her agitatedly. He was still tired, and he had been hurt. Looking between the rest of his team, Gaara finally turned away from Kizuna.

"I'll kill, I swear," his voice floated back to her, even as Gaara disappeared into the gathering twilight.

Kizuna swallowed heavily, finding herself alone. Suddenly, her knees seemed to give out and she sank to the ground, shaking.

-

-

The next day, Jiraiya easily noticed her thoughts drifting.

"What's wrong with you now?" he drawled, one eyebrow rising. "That time of month? Anyway, get serious. Don't waste my time."

Shooting him a half-hearted glare, Kizuna frowned. "You know a lot of ninjutsu, right? … Do you know.. if there's a way to… seal a spirit into a person? Into an infant?"

Jiraiya's eyes widened slowly and he looked almost… shaken for a moment. Kizuna waved her hands sharply. "It's not anything crazy!" she said quickly. "I… just heard that there's someone like that! …It… seems like a very… horrible thing."

Silence hung heavily for a long moment as Jiraiya swallowed heavily. "Is that so?" he said woodenly. Almost visibly gathering himself, he continued, "Well, yes, it's possible. There are… several possible ways… But it's not really anything you should be thinking about."

'No, it's definitely something I need to think about,' Kizuna thought sharply, her frown deepening. "What would that mean, for the… host?" she asked instead, ignoring Jiraiya's attempt to dissuade her.

"It would depend on the binding seal used," Jiraiya replied reluctantly. "If a seal is unstable, it might allow the sealed being to… interfere with the host. But if the seal is well made… the host might not even know about their prisoner..." His eyes narrowed as he regarded her. "Why are you asking? Where did you hear about this?"

His sharp tone made her shift uneasily. 'Would it really be a bad idea to tell someone? I mean, maybe they ought to know…' Kizuna shook her head. "Gaara," she said decisively. "I mean, Gaara told me he had the incarnate of sand sealed in him at birth… at the cost of his mother's life…"

Oddly, Jiraiya seemed to… relax. 'Just what was he thinking?' Kizuna wondered a little angrily. 'He didn't really think I wanted to do something like that, did he? I'm not that kind of person…'

"That's interesting," he commented, rubbing the back of his head. "Yes, I heard some rumors like that. The Kazekage is a very brutal and power hungry man. You'd better stay away from this Gaara."

Kizuna nodded, though she honestly doubted how well she could do that.

For a moment, Jiraiya seemed lost in thought before focusing on her again. "Tell you what, I'll teach you the hand seals and you can take the rest of the day off to practice them."

"At least show me how it goes too," Kizuna protested. Normally, she'd be pretty against something like this, but she really did feel shaken. Something would definitely get destroyed if she tried to train now.

"Alright, alright," Jiraiya grumbled. "Now watch."

There were only five seals, all of them easy to remember as Jiraiya went through them slowly. At the last one, a wide blade of wind swept out in front of him, easily cutting down several trees by the river bank.

Making the seals once to make sure she had the right sequence, Kizuna wandered back to the city proper. She… wanted to see Hinata. But was Team 8 even in town? They were probably on a mission, or training…

"Well, there's one way to find out," she muttered to herself and set out purposefully.

Looking up at the sign for Yamanaka Flowers, Kizuna grimaced a little. 'There's no helping it,' she consoled herself, stepping inside. A bell over the door jingled merrily, making the girl behind the counter turn and beam.

"Welcome to Yamana- Oh, it's you," Ino trailed off her cheery greeting. "Hey there, Washing Board."

"Feeling better, Ino-pig?" Kizuna bit back, a forced grin on her face.

Ino pouted, very charmingly, and crossed her arms. "What do you want?"

"What's Touka-kun doing today?" Kizuna asked, blushing a little at the thought of her crush.

At the familiar topic, Ino rolled her eyes. "His team has the rest of the week off. Their instructor's helping with security, so they're on their own. But anyway, you stay away from Touka. He might catch your rudeness… or your ugliness."

"Hmph," Kizuna stuck her nose in the air, huffing. "I'm just glad he never caught _your_ whining," she said.

Ino studied her for a moment. "Why are you looking for Touka anyway? … You know, Sasuke-kun's in town. Shouldn't you see him instead?"

"Sasuke is?" Kizuna repeated, surprised. "I… didn't know that. … Well, I doubt he'll want to see me. Probably too busy training. Kiba too."

"About Sasuke-kun…" Ino trailed off. "What happened to him? I mean… When I tried to use Shintenshin on him… There was something else there."

"Something else?" Kizuna wondered. "I think… Kakashi-sensei knows, but they.. didn't tell me anything."

Even though her personality was a bit self-centered and spoiled, Ino wasn't a bad person. She wasn't unsympathetic, and the look she gave Kizuna was a little sad. "I see. I don't know what it was, but it seemed almost like someone had left something in Sasuke-kun's mind. It's what made my technique go haywire like that…"

Kizuna nodded, turning away to leave. As she opened the door, Ino called out to her. "Hey! Look after Sasuke-kun, okay?"

"Of course!" Kizuna beamed over her shoulder. "He's my teammate! I won't let him down!"

-

-

Kizuna didn't bother stopping by the Hyuuga compound. For one, they would never let her in or give her the time of day. And anyway, Hinata wouldn't stay there if she could help it.

Instead, Kizuna went to the training ground Neji favored. Just as she expected, the Hyuuga prodigy was training there, though he stopped long before she got close enough to see what he was doing.

"Hi!" she greeted him and Tenten, who had been helping it seemed.

Tenten waved back, using the break to pick up her discarded weapons. "Hey, Kizuna," the older girl smiled. "How have you been? How's the pervert been acting?"

"Eh… he just left me on my own mostly," Kizuna said, moving to help her _senpai_. "I finally got the hang of using wind nature chakra, and he showed me the seals for the technique today… So I decided to take a break. What about you?"

Tenten shrugged. "I've been thinking a lot about how to advance my skills. I mean, I can always keep practicing, but just being good with weapons and having perfect aim isn't going to be enough." She smiled, waving away Kizuna's concerned look. "I'm fine. Lee's started training again too. He's been swearing up and down that he'll beat Neji next time, but Gai-sensei has been very strict with his new ruled about the Lotus."

"We'll see how far he can go," Neji said quietly, handing Tenten a handful of kunai he had picked up. "But for now, I'm going to focus on the Chuunin Exam."

Kizuna laughed, a warm feeling rising at Neji's round-about acknowledgement of Lee's dedication and skill. "Just so you know, I'll be cheering for Kiba," she told him.

"That's alright. Lee and I will cheer twice as loud as you for Neji," Tenten told her with mock challenge. "And Hinata might help too. She was visiting Lee whenever she could in the hospital, and she's been helping him train in her spare time."

"So they're training together, huh?" Kizuna muttered. "Well, I'll leave you to it. Kiba's no pushover, you know. He told me he's going to have a special ace up his sleeve."

Neji smirked. "I'm looking forward to it," he promised. "I have no doubt he'll give it his all."

Even if he thought that Kiba would lose (and knowing Neji, he probably did), he didn't say so, and that left Kizuna feeling almost buoyant. 'Lee must have really impressed him,' she thought. 'After all, Lee graduated only because Gai-sensei vouched for him and swore to take him on as a student – he hadn't even been able to do the jutsu portion of the exam. But now, Lee's become a powerful shinobi…'

Stopping suddenly, she grinned. "I wonder if that's how Sasuke feels about us. Kiba and I came a long way too."

Laughing, Kizuna ran to see her first and most precious friend, her earlier depression and unease forgotten.

-

-

What a supremely boring chapter. D:

Oh well. Chuunin Exam final round starts next. (Urgh… I'm still not sure how the Kiba/Neji fight should go…)


	16. Exam 3rd Round

-

-

KIZUNA

Exam 3rd Round I

(Note: Bwa. ha. ha. … I'm so screwed)

-

-

The day of the Chuunin Exam third round dawned bright and promising. The air was clear, the sun was shining.

Kizuna hummed a little as she walked, swinging her and Hinata's linked hands between them. The shyer girl blushed a little as her friend pulled her along on their way, but she didn't even consider letting go of Kizuna's hand. Hinata was actually rather glad that Kizuna was so demonstrative, since she enjoyed being close to her but didn't quite dare to work up the courage to do anything herself.

"Here we are!" Kizuna chirped as they stopped in front of a sizeable compound. It was smaller than the Hyuuga clan's, but then, the Inuzuka clan was smaller as well. Raising one fist, Kizuna prepared to pound on the door, but it opened before she could hit it even once.

On the other side was a kunoichi older than the two girls, with three large dogs crowding around her legs. She grinned, accentuating the bold markings on her face. "No need for that! We smelled you coming. Kiba's just rolling out of bed now though."

Kizuna blinked in surprise for a moment before grinning. "Great! I'm Uzumaki Kizuna of Team Seven! It's a pleasure to meet you!"

"T-the same!" Hinata squeaked, both of them bowing. It was embarrassing really, to react like that, since Hinata had been the one who taught Kizuna how to properly introduce herself – name, relation, pleasantry, bow, as Kizuna had short-handed it.

The older kunoichi laughed. "Yeah, I've heard all about you! I'm Hana, Kiba's sister. Good to finally meet his teammate, and her friend."

Hinata's eyes darted up to meet Hana's, and she blushed. Usually, it would be "nice to meet the Hyuuga (failed) heiress", but Hinata found herself much preferring "Hinata, Kizuna's friend".

Before either of the girls was forced to search for some topic of small talk (which would have been problematic to both for different reasons), Hana glanced back into the compound and stepped away from the door. Peering in, Kizuna saw Kiba hopping toward them on one foot, cursing as he pulled his sandal onto the other, all while trying to avoid the large dog playfully nipping at his heels.

Or at least, Kizuna thought it was playful. The dog was grinning, probably.

Chuckling, Kizuna noticed the wild-looking woman bringing up in the rear of the procession, in full jounin uniform. Finally fully dressed, Kiba turned back to her at the doorway.

"Let's go," he huffed. "I'll be better off at the stadium with the crazy foreigners…"

The woman laughed. "That's right, get going! We'll try to drop by to see your match… but the village is on high security right now, and we need every jounin." Looking at Kizuna and Hinata, she grinned. "But I'll definitely get the play by play from your audience, eh? How about it, girls?"

Kizuna seemed confused for a moment before beaming. "Sure thing!" she chirped.

Kiba groaned something that sounded like "Women..!", earning himself a smack from his sister. Hurrying away before any more retaliation could follow, Kiba fell in step with Kizuna and Hinata as they walked to the stadium.

They were early, but there was already quite a crowd gathered, sorting out who would sit where, buying snacks and betting. Kizuna had to drag Kiba away when he heard about the odds against him.

Team Gai was waiting by the entrance, doing their usual thing, and Kiba thought that maybe they're almost as dysfunctional as his Team 7.

Tenten noticed them first and waved cheerfully. "Hey! Kizuna, Hinata! Oh, and Kiba too, right?"

"Yeah," Kiba said, a bit impressed she remembered him.

"Hello, Neji-niisan," Hinata murmured, receiving a nod in return.

"Hinata-san! You look especially youthful and stunning this morning! Have you come to wish my rival luck in his match?" Lee declared boldly. For once, he wasn't wearing his green suit, but rather a simple T-shirt and pants combo.

Hinata blushed furiously. "L-Lee-kun," she stammered, but couldn't seem to find any other words.

As the two groups separated, Kiba and Neji headed to the participants' area silently. Finally, Kiba declared, "No offense, but I'm gonna kick your ass."

Expressionlessly, Neji only said, "We'll see."

In the stands, it turned out that Hinata had managed to secure seats for most of their graduating class in the same area. Haruno and Ino, who had also brought Chouji, were already seated. Seeing them, Kizuna seemed torn between smiling coquettishly at Haruno and glaring at Ino, but in the end she settled for hurrying to take the seat next to Haruno, dragging Hinata along to sit on her other side.

Smirking faintly, Tenten maneuvered Lee into the seat behind Hinata and settled behind Kizuna herself. 'I'd put him next to her, but Hinata's got the aisle seat,' Tenten thought a little regretfully.

"No offense to you, Kizuna, but I'm going to be cheering for Neji!" Tenten said brightly, tapping the younger girl in front of her on the head.

Kizuna grinned. "That's okay! And _I_'ll be cheering for Kiba. We're teammates, after all."

"Do you know anything about Sasuke-kun?" Ino asked, frowning a little. "According to the posted match-ups, he's next, against… um…"

"Gaara," Kizuna supplied flatly, her expression suddenly serious. "I haven't heard anything…"

Haruno shook his head a little, his smile dimming. "He's been in Konoha for the last week," he said. "But mostly he's been training in the very remote areas. When I asked Shino-kun this morning, he said he had lost track of Sasuke yesterday."

Ino and Tenten eyed Haruno oddly at this. 'What is he, a stalker?' they wondered.

-

-

The stadium was completely packed by the time the third round began. Sasuke still hadn't appeared, but Kiba shrugged it off easily as he moved into the arena with Neji. 'If Sasuke's been training with Kakashi-sensei, it's not surprise he's late,' Kiba thought.

"Alright, rules are the same as the preliminary round – basically, anything goes, until one of you surrenders, dies or is deemed unable to fight," the proctor drawled, shifting his senbon to the other side of his mouth. Raising his hand, he declared, "Ready? Begin!"

"Let's do this!" Kiba yelled, raising his hands in a seal as Akamaru jumped away. "Juujin Bunshin!"

The two Kibas attacked quickly and aggressively, but Neji wasn't considered a genius without merit. He dodged easily, with the grace of a skilled Juuken practitioner, and retaliated with quick but debilitating strikes. As he spun around for another pass, Kiba was clearly favoring one leg, the other numb from a well-placed attack.

Neji smirked. "Is that all you've got?" he asked.

Snarling Kiba attacked, and the three continued their fast-paced battle. Although it was fairly obvious that Neji was the more skilled and polished fighter, he had trouble predicting Kiba and Akamaru's wild moves and it seemed that his Jyuuken strikes didn't work as well on the dog. Taking a defensive approach, Hyuuga spent more time dodging than attacking - though he still landed far more hits than the Inuzuka pair.

Suddenly, Kiba jumped straight into Tsuuga, catching Neji almost completely off guard and clipping his shoulder. Thrown off balance, it seemed as if Hyuuga would take the second Kiba's Tsuuga straight in the back. But at the last moment, Neji begin to spin quickly as well, disappearing in the pale blue swirl of Kaiten.

Whimpering a little, Akamaru was knocked away and reverted back to his own form.

Neji smirked again as he stopped and fell into his Jyuuken stance. "You won't be able to bypass the Hyuuga clan's ultimate defense," he declared proudly.

"It's not over yet," Kiba bit out, reaching into his pouch and pulling out several kunai. "Let's go, Akamaru!"

Barking, the puppy jumped at Neji, who dodged with ease only to be forced into another Kaiten as Kiba threw his kunai. The weapons were easily deflected – but then the attached explosive tags set off. As the ground around him was torn up by the blasts, Neji wisely continued in his technique.

'Gotcha,' Kiba thought, jumping high with Akamaru. For a moment, he was in the air, looking down on Neji's Kaiten, then he and Akamaru were heading straight down in Gatsuuga.

The two techniques met with a powerful blast of chakra as the two (purposefully) opposite rotations canceled each other. Both genin were disoriented, but Kiba had planned for this and he grit his teeth, keeping his full focus on his wide-eyed opponent.

They collided gracelessly and rolled in a wild tangle of limbs, with Kiba and Akamaru just managing to pin a limb each and coming out on top. Not daring to wait, Kiba slammed his fist into Neji's face once and drew back for another hit, but by then Hyuuga had recovered enough to throw his weight to the side.

Rolling over once and again, the boys struggled for dominance until Neji freed an arm enough to slam a solid hit into Kiba's shoulder. He snapped to his feet and flung away Akamaru. Eyes widening, Kiba lunged to catch his partner – which was all the time Neji needed to fall into his stance and align his senses.

There was no time for taunting or bragging, he admitted mentally. "Hakke: Roku-juu-yon shou!" Neji declared without preamble, launching himself at his opponent.

To the Inuzuka pair's credit, they defended as best they could, Kiba managing to dodge the first strike but taking the next five until Akamaru lunged at Neji. The genius ducked, momentarily throwing off his rhythm and missing the first two of the eight palms. But then, sixteen palms, thirty-two palms – all landed, driving Kiba back.

Before Neji could start the final set, Akamaru recovered and attacked again, making the Hyuuga dodge again. Taking the chance, Kiba dropped to the ground on all fours – making his tenketsu rather difficult to hit. Neji's frustrated expression showed clearly how very annoyed he was with all these difficulties. But he was a genius and capable of improvising as needed. Abandoning the 64 palms, he retaliated by simply kicking Kiba in the face and jumping away.

As both genin gathered themselves again, Neji managed another smirk. "I'm surprised you can still move," he said calmly. "Even Thirty-two Palms would have closed most of your tenketsu. At this point, you can't hope to beat me. I doubt you will be able to use your jutsu again, and that trick wouldn't work a second time anyway."

Kiba coughed, his breathing heavy and a little labored. "I'm not through!" he declared boldly, but it was obvious he had trouble standing up. On his shoulder, Akamaru whimpered faintly and licked his cheek in concern.

Wordlessly, Neji settled into his Jyuuken stance as Kiba attacked again. The fight had taken some toll of him as well, and his moves were more strained and jerky, especially on the left – where Kiba had managed to clip him before. But he still dodged Kiba's attacks and landed several strikes, driving Inuzuka back again.

"I suggest you surrender," Neji said quietly. "From here, I will aim for your vital organs. If necessary, I can stop your heart. That is the power of the Hyuuga clan's Jyuuken."

The threat didn't seem to faze Kiba in the slightest as he growled. "I don't care! I won't give up until I'm dead!" he yelled.

Neji studied him for a moment before shaking his head. "You really mean that." He sighed and straightened. "I see. So I would have to kill you to win. But killing a fellow Konoha-nin during a rank examination would hardly be acceptable or honorable..."

As the crowd stared in surprise, Neji raised one hand and met the proctor's eyes. "I surrender," he said clearly.

For a moment, the stadium was absolutely silent in surprise. "You sure?" the proctor asked slowly, shifting his senbon.

Neji nodded. "Yes. He's the kind of idiot who will find a way to keep fighting no matter what I do. The last idiot I fought put himself in the hospital for two weeks because he wouldn't give up. And as I said, I have no desire to kill an ally for something like this."

"What?! You can't just surrender!" Kiba protested, stalking toward Neji with fists raised. "Don't listen to him! I'm gonna pound him into the dirt!" However, that promise was severely undermined when Kiba stumbled on his second step.

Giving Inuzuka a blank look, the proctor sighed and said, "Yeah, I can see what you mean. In that case, winner – Inuzuka Kiba."

Howling in indignation, Kiba lunged for Neji, but the proctor caught him by the back of the coat and reminded him the match was over. Stirring out of their surprise, the crowd began to clap and cheer, both for Kiba's determination and Neji's (kind of) honor.

Kizuna groaned and dropped her head in her hands. Hinata giggled nervously. Tenten shot the oblivious Lee (who should have been in the hospital for three weeks at least, not just the two he actually stayed there) an annoyed look.

Still furious, Kiba stumbled off the field, shooting dark looks at Neji's back.

"Alright," the proctor announced, "the next scheduled match is Uchiha Sasuke versus Sabaku no Gaara." A roar of anticipation greeted his words. "However," he added strongly, "Uchiha Sasuke is... not present. Instead, the next two matches are being moved up. So the next match is Temari versus Shikamaru."

The latter had to be pretty much forced onto the field.

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A/N: I'll stop here for now even though the chapter is short. Next time will be the invasion.

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	17. Sand and Sound Invasion

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KIZUNA

Sand and Sound Invasion

(Note: 88,000 hits. 434 reviews. 71 C2s. 322 favs. 406 alerts. But only 8 reviews for last chapter. Maybe I should just stop here.)

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"Where _is_ Sasuke-kun?" Ino wondered as Shikamaru stumbled off the field after conceding as well. It was somehow amusing that not a single match so far had actually been fought to the bitter end.

Frowning, Kizuna only shook her head.

Ino seemed ready to press further, but Haruno placed a restraining hand on her shoulder. The two shared a long look. Ino sighed. 'I wouldn't mind being on the same team as Sasuke-kun, but I don't envy her this sort of thing. Kizuna's the type to go to pieces with worry too...' she thought. 'I wouldn't take it well either if Shikamaru just disappeared for a month without a by-your-leave, together with Asuma-sensei, no less.'

And of course, there wasn't anyone to distract Kizuna either. Hinata, Lee and Tenten had all left to see Neji. Kiba had actually gone to the infirmary after his fight and now could be clearly seen down in the arena, arguing with the proctor to just disqualify Sasuke already.

'What a team,' Ino thought.

Suddenly, a whirlwind began to dance down in the arena, kicking up a cloud of leaves. As they settled again, two figures appeared, standing back to back.

Sasuke and Kakashi had arrived.

Abruptly, Kizuna jumped to her feet and ran out of the stands, Ino and Chouji watching her go in confusion.

As the proctor sorted things out with the late arrivals, Kiba continuing to argue his own perspective, Kizuna ran across the stadium to the participants' entrance, up the stairs to their box. Technically, the area was off limits to her, but no one interfered. She moved toward the three Sand genin.

Temari and Kankurou stood together, their heads close as they whispered to each other, their agitation clear.

"-doesn't come soon, he's going to let _it_ out right here in the stadium," Kankurou hissed. "He's been communing with _it_ since the first match started."

"But without his sand cocoon?" Temari wondered, shooting Gaara a horrified and worried glance. "I didn't think he could do that…"

Following her gaze, Kizuna turned to stare at Gaara. He was crouched in a shadowed corner of the gallery, eyes closed, hands clasped in a hand seal. Kizuna twitched a little, seeing his sand flowing over his arms, legs and torso, quivering a little as if in anticipation.

'He's really going to do it… He's really going to kill Sasuke,' she thought.

"Gaara!" Kizuna called out, gathering her flagging courage. The two older Sang genin started and spun around to face her, their expressions horrified.

The sand _shivered_.

"Gaara!" Kizuna called again. "Are you… still planning to kill Sasuke? I won't let you!"

His hands dropped limply at his sides, and slowly, Gaara rose to his feet, his arms and head dangling. A grin spread across his lips.

"I…" But whatever Kizuna planned to say trailed off as she stared out the viewing box across the stadium.

Pure white feathers had begun to fall from the sky.

"Wha… Ah!"

Kizuna screamed in surprise as a mass of sand slammed into her. For an instant, her eyes met Gaara's. He looked absolutely insane, his sand armor thickening, darkening and spreading across his face…

Suddenly, she was flung out of the gallery into the arena, Gaara jumping after her.

The sand was still wrapped around her and Kizuna couldn't dodge away. She slammed into the arena floor, the world swimming and darkening for a moment.

Across the stadium, the spectators dropped in their seats, falling into a deep, coma-like sleep. Sand and Sound shinobi appeared, attacking those that didn't succumb to the genjutsu. Up above, Orochimaru flung away his disguise.

Outside in the city, giant snake summons crashed through the outer wall.

But the genin in the arena had no time to worry about any of that. Reacting instinctively, Kiba launched into Tsuuga. He plowed through the sand holding Kizuna, and the girl rolled away, coughing.

Gaara roared – _screeched_ – his sand armor now covering his eyes and spreading across his mouth. It opened wide, wider than humanly possible, showing an array of long, dangerous teeth. The yellow sand, marked by black patterns, gathered over his arms and sprouted as a tail, until all that was left of Gaara were his feet.

Despite herself, Kizuna felt her eyes widen in fear.

"I'll kill you!" Gaara shrieked in an inhuman voice. "Uchiha Sasuke!"

"Sasuke!" Kakashi bit out, knocking away a Sound-nin attacker. "He's after you! Lead him out of the populated areas!"

Shaking herself, Kizuna scrambled to her feet and threw a handful of kunai at Gaara, who blocked with one monstrous arm. The kunai exploded.

She and Sasuke exchanged a quick glance before jumping away and running up the stadium wall. At the top, they paused just long enough for Gaara to catch sight of them. He followed with far too much agility for his size, simply slamming his fists into the ground and launching himself at them.

Both dropped away to the other side of the wall. "Kizuna! Uchiha!" Kiba roared, racing after his teammates.

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The village beyond the stadium was in chaos. Kizuna and Sasuke jumped quickly between buildings, heading for the nearest training ground and doing their best to dodge both Sound and Sand shinobi.

Behind them, Gaara roared again. An impossibly long limb of sand shot out, almost hitting Kizuna in the back, though the girl managed to dodge in time. Instead, the sand crashed through the wall of a building, raining rubble down on the civilians in the streets.

"Kizuna!" Sasuke called out, looking over his shoulder.

She gestured sharply at him. "Don't stop!"

"I'll kill you! I'll kill her and I'll kill you!" Gaara promised, his voice booming but slurred.

He launched himself forward with his sand, crashing into the house as Kizuna jumped away and hurried after Sasuke. 'Damn it, he's going after her first?' Sasuke thought furiously. As Gaara _shrieked_ again, more sand rose out of the ground to shoot up in spikes around them. Flashing through hand seals quickly, Kizuna thrust out one hand and a blade of wind smashed through the obstruction, letting her and Sasuke race onward.

"He's getting stronger!" Kizuna bit out. "It's like he's gathering more and more power the longer we run!"

As if to prove her right, Gaara attacked again, the sand surging forward in a wide wave now and cutting a path of destruction through the city.

A Konoha shinobi – a chuunin neither of them knew – tried to help, attacking Gaara with a fire ball, but the sand monster simply ignored the jutsu and swatted the shinobi aside. His feral yellow eyes were fixed firmly on Sasuke now.

Gaara drew back his sand limbs, readying another attack, but before he could execute, Kiba and Akamaru's Gatsuuga slammed into his back. Trusting her teammate to stay alive, Kizuna grabbed Sasuke's arm and jerk him away.

"The forest's just ahead!" she yelled back. "We can fight him there!" 'If we can figure out how.'

They reached cover just in time, another wave of sand breaking over the tree line – and breaking several trees. Gaara roared as they hid, attacking indiscriminately now. He seemed to have gone beyond speech.

Kizuna ducked behind a thick trunk and glanced at Sasuke. "Any ideas?" she asked. "That armor's gotten even thicker. I don't think I'd reach him even if I rammed my kunai in to the hilt."

"Kakashi taught me an assassination technique that can pierce the sand," Sasuke said, frowning. "But I'll need a moment to charge it… And we'll only have two shots."

Kizuna nodded, but before she could reply, both genin were forced to jump out the way as Gaara smashed through the trees they had been using as cover. Instead of continuing to run, Kizuna stuck to another tree and whistled sharply.

"Gaara!" she yelled, just to make sure his attention was on her. "You still going to kill Sasuke?"

Opening his mouth – inhumanly wide – Gaara chuckled. His voice boomed and grated. "I'll kill him! I'll prove my existence!"

"Not if I have anything to say about it! I'll protect him with my life!" Kizuna swore. "I won't let you hurt my friend!"

For an instance, Gaara's monstrous form froze. The sand around him shuddered, and Gaara keened. But then he seemed to snap back into focus. "I'll kill you first," he hissed.

Kizuna grinned ferally, keeping her gaze locked with Gaara's even as he drew back one giant fist. She didn't dare to let her eyes flicker. "COME ON!" she roared, moving as if to lunge.

All his attention on her, Gaara seemed to completely miss Sasuke as he charged, lightning flashing and chirping in his hand. But at the last moment, Gaara's sand tail swung around and Sasuke, not quite fast enough to dodge, was flung away. Hitting a tree hard enough to crack the bark, Sasuke just barely managed to use the remains of his Chidori to slice away the rush of sand that attacked him.

Gaara turned toward him as Sasuke dropped to his knees, but before he could attack, Kizuna jumped onto his back, a kunai in each hand. As she had predicted, even digging the weapons fully into the sand armor didn't faze Gaara in the slightest, but she used the kunai to anchor herself to Gaara. Spinning around furiously, he couldn't quite dislodge her.

Gaara reached back with his arms but, in the confusion, Sasuke had recovered enough to prepare Chidori again. This time his aim was true and he forced his arm up to the elbow into the sand armor over Gaara's heart.

His hand was wet again, but not enough, Sasuke realized. Gaara was howling in pain and rage, and the sand was closing around his arm, threatening to crush it. The only thing Sasuke could think to do was pulse more lightning chakra. Leveraging his feet against the sand, he quickly pulled his arm out and jumped away.

Unfortunately, Kizuna didn't manage to get away in time. Flailing wildly, Gaara threw her off, a giant sand arm slamming her into a tree and pinning her in place. "Kizuna!" Sasuke yelled, but he froze as Gaara's sand tightened around her.

"Is that… all?" Gaara taunted. "You… don't have enough hate. You care for her, so you're… weak." Before Sasuke could move, Gaara's other sand arm wrapped around him, slowly tightening its grip.

"Sasuke!" Kizuna yelled, trying desperately to move. "Let him go! Gaara!"

Gaara laughed crazily. "That's right… I'll take away your precious 'friend' so you'll know my pain… You'll… feel the same pain as me… With your hatred, you'll be strong enough… to validate my existence."

"Don't joke!" Kizuna bit out, lowering her head and baring her fangs. "You think I've never felt pain? I won't let you send me back to that hell!"

She concentrated her chakra as much as she could, forcing it out of her hands, out of every part of her body as much as she could. 'Hinata-chan,' Kizuna thought, focusing on everything her friend had taught her. 'Hinata-chan, I can't afford to lose.'

_I can't lose. No matter what. I've finally left that lonely hell. I won't go back_

_I won't go b**ack!**_

Gaara was laughing. The sand had almost completely covered Sasuke now, and he was gritting his teeth to hold back a scream, his eyes screwed shut in pain.

_Sasuke_

"_No,_" Kizuna growled, _something_ welling up. "_No, no, no._"

A sickening crack and her teammate _screamed._

"**No!**"

A sudden wave of chakra and killing intent swept out, blasting away Gaara's sand. Snarling, Kizuna drew back her hand and _thrust_ – Gaara was thrown back, down, down to the forest floor, the impact destabilizing his sand armor and leaving a deep crater.

"I won't let you! **I won't let you!**" Kizuna howled, drawing more, more chakra and throwing it all at _her enemy_. (_Kill, kill, kill, make him stop and never ever try again-_)

"Kizuna!" Sasuke yelled, his hand closing around her wrist and holding her back. He was _trying to stop her (how dare he? Didn't he realize-?)_

Sasuke's eyes widened as she lashed out at him, and he stumbled a little as he tried to dodge. The strange blast of chakra caught him across on arm, tearing several long, shallow gashes.

The sight of his blood was enough to snap Kizuna back to reality.

(Her teammate was _bleeding_

And it was her fault.

Spikes of sand shot up around them, crashing through the tree limb they were standing on and almost skewing the two genin. Seeing Kizuna too shocked to move, Sasuke dove to tackle her out of the way, his red Sharingan eyes spinning, black marks spreading across his face as he pushed his body to move faster, despite having nothing left.

In the chaos, they could hear Gaara laughing again.

More and more sand gathered, surging up in a tower, a massive shape slowly emerging. "You've entertained me well so… I'll feed you… to mother," Gaara's voice rumbled as he appeared out of the sand at the very top of his monster. Slowly, he brought his hands together in a seal.

"Tanuki Neiri no Jutsu…"

For a moment, the forest fell silent as Gaara slumped bonelessly. Then, the monster screeched.

**_"Finally! Finally! I'm out! I'm out! I'll kill you!"_** it shrieked, laughing wildly.

"This is… the monster inside of him?" Kizuna murmured. Under the backlash of the cursed seal, Sasuke sagged against her, and Kizuna's hands clenched into his shirt.

Shukaku's tail swept through the forest, sending trees flying. Gasping, Kizuna began to shift a moment too late… But suddenly, both she and Sasuke were swept out of the way by two very familiar figures.

Landing a little awkwardly, Kiba dropped her and stared at the monster. "What the hell is that?" he wondered. The Kiba holding Sasuke poofed back into Akamaru, panting tiredly. Kiba himself didn't look much better, his jacket shredded and his hitai-ate missing.

"A demon," Kizuna said quietly, her voice almost completely drowned out by Shukaku's continued random destruction.

Tearing his eyes away, Kiba assessed both her and Sasuke. "Can you move?" he asked the latter, getting only a grunt and a twitch in reply. "Shit, what are we gonna do? You got anything?"

Kizuna shook her head distractedly. "I… I…" she muttered, suddenly shaking at the memory of what she'd done _before_. 'Pull yourself together! Everyone's gonna die if we don't do something!' she scolded herself, squeezing her eyes shut. "I can try to use a wind jutsu against it. But I don't think that'll be enough," she said.

"Akamaru and I've got a jutsu left… but it takes a lot of chakra and it doesn't aim well. That's why I wanted to avoid using it…" Kiba said, frowning deeply.

Kizuna let out a short, strained laugh. "Well, I don't think we need to worry about it dodging," she said ironically. "But I'll aim for the legs. I'll buy you as much time as I can!"

Jumping away before he could protest, she flashed through the hand seals and forced as much chakra as she could into the technique. Despite what she'd said, Kizuna aimed up, for the monster's head, all the better to get its attention.

Her aim was a little off, so most of the Kazekiri's wind blade slammed into Shukaku's chest, carving out deep gouges in the sand. But the demon only laughed crazily, the sand filling the wounds quickly, as if they had never been there. "Prey! Prey!" the monster shrieked, focusing on her. "Come! I'll kill you!"

"Just try it!" Kizuna yelled back, marshalling her courage and molding more chakra.

Shukaku's chest puffed out as she formed the seals. Hitting itself in the stomach, it spit out a ball of concentrated wind chakra, which collided head on with her next wind blade. Although the two attacks mostly cancelled each other out, the backlash threw Kizuna backwards.

Flipping, she landed on another branch and just barely managed to hold on. But there wasn't any time to waste and she formed the seals again, pulling out even more chakra. Her vision was going red _red_ and Kizuna panicked for a moment, almost slipping in her technique.

'Hinata-chan, I'm scared,' she thought suddenly. 'But I can't give up.'

"Fuuton: Kazekiri no jutsu!" Kizuna yelled out, forcing her mind onto the attack.

Shukaku laughed shrilly, amused at her attempts to best it in _wind_, in its own element. Almost lazily, it countered her attack with another Air Bullet.

'Hurry _up_, Kiba!' Kizuna thought desperately, already molding again.

"Is that all you've got?!" she taunted. "What's the matter? Going to lose to a pathetic little human?!"

Of course, they both knew she was the one who was losing. This time, Shukaku didn't even bother countering with a jutsu, instead simply moving its tail to guard. Her Kazekiri sliced it almost clean through, but the sand began to reform immediately, and the monster didn't even seem to feel it – maybe it _couldn't_ feel it.

But Shukaku's mocking laughter was cut off as Kizuna's forgotten teammate finished his preparations.

"Let's go, Akamaru!" Kiba bit out, the chakra he had gathered swirling visibly around him. "Man-Beast Combination Transformation: Double-Headed Wolf!"

The white beast that appeared in a cloud of smoke was massive, but it was still dwarfed by Shukaku. Of course, this wasn't all the Inuzuka pair had up their sleeves.

Lunging toward their enemy, they roared

"_Garouga!_"

Too slow, Shukaku began to turn – Kizuna took the chance to slam another Kazekiri into its upper body. A moment later and the spiraling attack ploughed into the sand construct, shredding it apart, even the surrounding air slicing like a million blades.

Everything went into chaos, sand and wind whipping through the forest, uprooting trees and sending them flying. Caught in the backlash, Kizuna clung onto a tree trunk with all her chakra and a kunai anchor. Cutting straight through Shukaku's form and utterly destroying it, Kiba and Akamaru flew over her before crashing into the forest and digging a deep furrow until they ran out of chakra.

Falling out of their transformation, the pair collapsed amid the destruction. 'Was it enough?' Kiba wondered, barely able to lever himself onto his knees.

As the wind settled, Kizuna shook her head and spit out a mouthful of sand. She could no longer see Shukaku, and the sand lay still all around her, forming dunes between the trees.

Pushing away from the trunk – which was now almost completely stripped of leaves and branches, Kizuna stumbled before regaining her footing and jumping toward the place where Shukaku had been.

Her arms and legs were shaking, and she could barely move, but she needed to make sure Gaara was really down for the count…

He was.

A flash of red marked where he lay, half-buried in his own sand and unable to move from exhaustion. His tired eyes shifted toward her as Kizuna landed awkwardly nearby, stumbling as the sand shifted under her.

She had only one kunai left but that was enough.

Her usual strength had long deserted her, so Kizuna could only roll Gaara over on his back and put her kunai to his throat. "Don't move," she warned him needlessly. "I'm taking you prisoner."

"Not a chance."

Kizuna started badly, barely managing not to slice open Gaara's throat. She hadn't noticed anyone approaching, but as her head snapped up, she saw Gaara's teammates only a dozen feet away.

Kankurou held a kunai to Sasuke's throat.

"Looks like a stand off," Temari noted. "Don't move, or we'll kill you teammate."

Sasuke snarled something, but Kankurou kicked him in the back of the knees, forcing him onto his knees. "What do you want?" Kizuna asked, struggling to keep her voice level.

Temari's eyes flickered to Gaara before meeting Kizuna's glare. "I want my brother – an exchange."

Gaara stared at her in surprise. "You…" He trailed off uncertainly. "It would be easier if you let her kill me – get rid of the failure, as our father has been trying to for years," he noted tonelessly.

"Well, caring about people is rarely easy," Kizuna said dryly. "Are you two here alone because you're the only ones who give a damn about him or because you're the only ones left?"

"Awfully confident, aren't you?" Kankurou sneered. "For all you know, Sand and Sound are mopping the floor with your Leaf-nin."

Kizuna grinned viciously. "Oh, not a chance," she said with certainty. "And I'm guessing it's the second. Which means that all I need to do is wait until backup arrives."

"We've got a hostage!" Kankurou reminded her, pressing his kunai closer to Sasuke's neck, drawing a line of blood.

Kizuna scowled, but Temari cut her off. "It's both," she said quietly. "Give us our brother, and we'll go. This was a mistake from the start."

For a moment, the two girls stared at each other. A proper ninja wouldn't have cared, but Kizuna sighed quietly. "You… really do care about him," she said quietly. "You're lucky, having a family…"

Nodding, Temari jerked her head to Kankurou, who dragged Sasuke to his feet and walked toward Kizuna. Stopping beside her and Gaara, he shoved Sasuke at her and swiftly picked up his brother. By the time Kizuna caught her teammate and cut apart the ninja wire binding his arms, the Sand shinobi had vanished.

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Somehow, Team Seven made it out of the Sand/Sound invasion in one piece.

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A/N: … finally. I can't believe how long it took to get this far. Next will be Akatsuki and the wonderful revelations about the Kyuubi.

I've been thinking of doing a really short "crossover-type" side project that would basically show Kizuna as Naruto's twin instead of him as a girl. (Actually that would solve a lot of problems..)

What do you guys think?

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	18. Extra: Aftermath

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KIZUNA

Extra: Aftermath

(Note: Great job with the reviews! Do go on this chapter, and I'll post the next one really fast, since it's already written. Spoiler: They're off to Lightning Country.)

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It was Team Eight plus one that came looking for Team Seven.

"They're over here!" Hinata called out, her face drawn with worry at the level of destruction in the area. 'Kizna-kun,' she thought desperately.

But Kizuna seemed alright after all – exhausted and battered, but not seriously injured and _alive_. With a weak smile, she raised on hand to wave to Hinata, sitting next to Sasuke, both propped up against a fallen tree trunk.

Running up to the other girl, Hinata dropped to her knees and drew her into a tight embrace. Shinobi code or not, she had been so scared. "Kizna-kun," Hinata sobbed, "Kizna-kun! You're alright!"

Kizuna rubbed her friend's back gently and leaned into the hug. She was shaking a little, but just being near Hinata like this made everything seem better.

As Shino, Haruno and Neji approached them, Sasuke carefully looked away from the girls. "What happened?" he asked instead.

"Sand and Sound staged a joint invasion. The walls were breached with several large snake summons, which were repelled by toads. The Kazekage was an impostor who fought the Third…" Shino paused, almost uncertain. "The Lord Hokage has been killed," he finally said emotionlessly.

Kizuna's hands clenched around Hinata's jacket as she gasped. "Old man? He's… dead?" she wondered. Hinata hugged her closer, offering all the comfort she could. "I'm.. okay, I'm okay…" Kizuna insisted faintly.

"Most of the invading forces have been repelled," Neji continued quietly, "so we're regrouping. I'll get your teammate and we'll head to the city proper for medical treatment and orders."

He nodded meaningfully to Shino, shooting a short glance at Hinata, and jumped away, his Byakugan already active and searching for Kiba. As Hinata and Kizuna settled shoulder to shoulder, heads together, whispering quietly, Haruno kneeled next to Sasuke and ran a gentle hand over his wounds.

"What made these cuts?" he asked, carefully peeling away remains of Sasuke's sleeve. "They're surrounded by chakra burns… and something like infection. This can't be from Gaara's sand."

Kizuna flinched, pressing closer to Hinata, a reaction that wasn't lost on Haruno. He smiled placatingly and added, "We'll need to have it looked at soon. Do you have any other injuries?"

"Broken ribs," Sasuke said flatly. "Chakra exhaustion."

They fell into silence until Neji returned, Kiba and Akamaru slung over his back. Haruno draped Sasuke's arm over his shoulder and pulled him to his feet while Hinata supported Kizuna. With Shino taking point, they moved out, moving slowly and carefully toward the center of the city.

The streets were still in chaos, filled with rubble and dead bodies, but there were fewer people rushing around now. The surviving shinobi had divided up and set to different tasks – the genin passed many small teams digging through rubble to help those trapped, and several patrols rushed by them, combing through the city and reinforcing the perimeter.

"The hospital's filled beyond capacity, so we'll take you back to the stadium. They have a med-station there," Haruno told them quietly.

The hypnosis genjutsu had begun to lift, but the spectators had not been allowed to leave the stadium. This included many ordinary civilians, but also the daimyos and their courts, and the foreign ninja who had come to see the matches. As such, there were many Konoha-nin in and around the structure, acting as guards.

A Konoha chuunin with a bandage around his head checked the genin over quickly for genjutsu or disguises, but Hinata and Sasuke's presence got them in quickly.

The stadium's med center was crowded, but as they waited in the hallways outside, a harassed-looking medic nin checked over them quickly. Kiba and Kizuna got the clear quickly and a stern order to rest while Sasuke was forced to take off his jumpsuit so that his ribs could be taped up. The medic frowned at the wounds on his arm, making Kizuna shift guiltily, and shook his head.

"The chakra used to make this wound is causing a negative reaction but your body should be able to fight it off. For now, use this cream and keep it bandaged," the medic said in a business-like, clipped tone, holding out a small jar. "And _rest_, Uchiha-san."

Haruno and Shino took their leave quickly, since every able-bodied shinobi was needed, while Hinata and Neji lingered, helping Team Seven move into an empty corner of the stands and procuring some simple ration bars for everyone.

"You don't have to stay," Kizuna said quietly as she curled up in one of the seats and nibbled on her bar. "You're probably needed somewhere, especially with the Byakugan."

Hinata only gave her a worried look. "I can help with the wounded here," she replied quietly.

"It would be best for Hinata-sama to remain here for now," Neji cut in flatly. "She is a member of the main branch and this would be a perfect opportunity for a kidnapping or assassination. This place is fairly well guarded – better than the Hyuuga mansion at the moment, since the entire clan has been called out to assist with the rescue efforts."

Hinata blushed unhappily, as always troubled by her position and what it entailed. "What about you? You didn't really get that beat up fighting Kiba," Kizuna pointed out.

"I am staying to guard Hinata-sama, and everyone here," Neji said calmly, his tone not leaving much room for argument.

"Well then, get to it," Kizuna suggested, waving them both away. "We'll stay here." Honestly, none of Team Seven looked up to moving anyway, and the two Hyuuga departed, somewhat reluctantly.

Kizuna sighed, finishing off her rations. She wanted to help too, but she was barely staying awake – everything hurt and she felt more drained than ever before in her entire life. In the seat next to her, Kiba shifted closer, about to drift off. Akamaru was already ahead of him in dreamland.

She flinched violently as someone landed in front of them, her heart pounding even as she recognized the Konoha uniform.

"Yo," Kakashi greeted them a little wearily. He looked worse for wear too, cuts and blood ruining his clothes.

"We defeated Gaara but he and his team escaped," Sasuke reported succinctly as Kizuna slumped in relief at the sight of their teacher. "We've all sustained minor injuries and exhausted our chakra."

Kakashi nodded, his eye curving up – in relief? happiness? pride?

"You did great, against a very powerful opponent," he told them.

The reaction he got wasn't what he had expected or hoped for. Sasuke looked angry and disgruntled while Kizuna shivered and curled into herself. Kiba just glared.

"No shit he was powerful," he bit out wearily but with definite ire. "What the hell were you doing sending them off to fight him? He turned into a damn monster and we barely beat him with a full Garouga!"

It might have seemed almost like bragging, but Kakashi blinked in surprise. 'Garouga? Hm, that's one of Inuzuka clan's best techniques.' He regarded his last student thoughtfully, impressed despite himself.

Recognizing the look, Kiba snarled. "Don't look so surprised! Did you think that just because you ditched us for a month we'd stop growing? It's not like you every really taught us anything anyway."

"Kiba, forget it," Kizuna said quietly. "We're all alive. That's the important part. Kakashi-sensei, you should get that looked at," she nodded toward the long, shallow cut on his leg. "We'll rest up and start helping too."

For a long moment, Team Seven remained caught in an uncomfortable silence, until Kakashi nodded.

"I'll want a full report once things settle down a little," he said quietly and disappeared.

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The funeral was held on the third day after the invasion.

If nothing else, shinobi were good at adapting to life-shaking disasters and they had learned about catastrophe aftermath twelve years before. In the end, the actual damage wasn't as bad as it could have been. Jiraiya's toads had driven Orochimaru's snakes out of the village quickly, and most of the fight with Gaara had been in the training fields. Between the Hyuuga clan's Byakugan, the Inuzuka clan's noses and the Aburame clan's insects, the survivors were pulled out the rubble quickly.

But the death toll had been very high.

After the Third's large, public funeral, all identified Konohagakure citizens would be cremated in more private ceremonies, so that the corpses wouldn't linger. The last thing the city needed was an epidemic.

The visitors were finally cleared to leave and they departed as quickly as possible after paying their "respects". But even as rain began to fall from the overcast sky, many Konoha-nins lingered at their Hokage's memorial.

Orphans didn't have family to bury, except the kind old man who had treated them all as his own children.

Hinata's hand lingered on Kizuna's shoulder, a single comforting warmth, before Neji drew her away to follow Hiashi and the clan heads to the Hyuuga compound. They had lost several shinobi in the fighting, and the Hyuuga funeral rituals would be long.

"I'll see you soon, Kizuna-kun," Hinata whispered.

She was getting soaked through with the rain, Kizuna barely noticed, until someone held a dark umbrella over her head. Glancing up, she looked at Haruno in surprise as he moved to stand by her side.

Haruno offered her a kind, gentle smile, the same one he'd given her all those years ago. "You look nice," he said with the same smiling poker face. Kizuna's lips quivered for a moment as she forced back tears, but then she smiled, a little painfully, and laughed.

"I always wanted to hear that from you, Haruno-kun," she admitted.

For a moment, the two stood silent under the cold rain. "I'm sorry," he replied quietly. Kizuna nodded. 'I know,' she thought, saying only, "Thank you."

In another part of the city, miraculously almost completely untouched by the fighting, Kakashi looked silently at the hero's memorial stone where the Third had so often gone to think. He didn't turn as someone approached him, stopping a few feet away.

"Kakashi-sensei…" Kiba began uncertainly. "I… I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said all of that to you at the stadium. You're a great teacher! And it wasn't like there was any choice…. Gaara was already after Sasuke and Kizuna, so it was the right to choice to have them lead him away. If he had transformed in the middle of the city, lots of people would've died… So, so, I'm sorry."

There was no reply. Hanging his head, Kiba added, "From now on, I'll trust you more. I really am sorry…"

The boy left quickly, but Kakashi remained still and silent for a long time after. "Sensei, Obito, Rin…" he sighed finally, "I think I messed up. I messed up a lot."

Closing his eye, he said, "They're such incredible kids. They've got so much potential – all three of them. Kiba mastered not just the Double-Headed Wolf transformation but even Garouga. That's incredible for a kid his age. Kizuna figured out wind-natured chakra and learned a high-level Fuuton jutsu. And Sasuke… well, I think he'll take Chidori much further than I ever could."

He shook his head. "But they've got so many problems too. Well, Kiba's alright, though I think he might hate me now. But Kizuna has _that_ and I think she might be catching on. Maybe it was a mistake to keep it from her like this. Now, she's scared… of herself. And Sasuke activated Orochimaru's cursed seal again. He's been brooding too…

"I just don't know what to do…"

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A/N: Okay, so a few points.

(1) The side project I mentioned last chapter is just a vague idea, so don't worry. It's not going to happen soon or for a long time. The response was pretty mixed, ahaha…

(2) Also, for goodness sake, you could have _told_ me I screwed up my own continuity – Shino wasn't in the Exam at all… *sigh* I edited the last two chapters to fix it, but there might be some mistakes.

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	19. Lightning 1

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So, there used to be a chapter to a new arc here, but then I changed my mind.

We're going straight into Akatsuki encounter rehash. (Which I'm in process of writing, but it's not top priority.)

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Omake! 1: Welcome back, Kakashi-sensei!

'Well, I guess there's no helping it,' Kakashi thought to himself when his team met for the first time after the invasion. 'I did promise Obito and Sensei that I would try to make nice with them…'

"Yo," he said a little more carefully than usual.

The kids looked at him dully. "You're only ten minutes late," Kiba pointed out in surprise. Kakashi sweatdropped. Truthfully, he hadn't been able to stand the memorial stone's accusing and pointed silence. 'I know, I know,' he thought to the dead people. 'I'll do it.'

"Right," he said, running a hand through his hair nervously. "Well, I just wanted to apologize to you two for, uh, leaving right after the preliminary round…"

"Hmph!" Kiba sulked, crossing his arms and turning away. "I didn't need you anyway! And it's not like you helped _Uchiha _much," he added pointedly. Sasuke growled angrily and clenched his fists.

The two were ready to fight when suddenly, a choked gasp stopped them in their tracks. Kakashi panicked. 'Oh, no, she can't be that upset!' he thought frantically. 'It's _Kizuna_! She doesn't cry like a little girl! Wait, she _is_ a little girl. And I just left her unconscious in a hospital with a broken arm… But she lost! She didn't need training like Sasuke did! …And she probably thought I left _because_ she lost…'

Feeling increasingly pathetic, Kakashi raised his hands in a placating manner. "Now, now, Kizuna, we'll get in lots of special training from now, so we can…"

"_Special training_?" Kizuna said quietly, cutting him off. "Like Jiraiya-sama's _special research_?" Looking up at him, she brought her arms in close and seemed to curl up in the same way her very shy friend often did. "You're… really that kind of pervert, aren't you?!"

"Eh?" Kakashi wondered.

"You're a total pervert just like that Ero-sennin!" she declared, shuddering. "_Iya da!_" ("No~!" //// *heart*)

Kiba roared in fury. "You pedo bastard!" Claws extending dangerously, he leaped at the jounin. Even Sasuke edged away from their teacher.

"Do _you_ spy on us in the hotspring too, _sensei_?" Kizuna egged him on shamelessly. "After we get all _sweaty_ and _flushed_ from our _workout_? How about you show us your _special_ moves? Won't you teach us how to _penetrate_ with our _weapons_? You've got great _stamina_, right?"

Kiba was determined to carve out a pound of flesh for every suggestive comment she made, but Sasuke quickly caught on. The look he gave her was rather disparaging. Later, he would think that maybe he should have just gone along…

"Laying it on a bit thick, aren't you?" he said dryly. "Maybe all of that would be a bit more believable if you actually had something to interest a pervert…"

'…but you're as flat as a board,' went unsaid, but it was strongly implied.

"Oh, I guess you're right," Kizuna said with cloying sweetness. A bitter, sharp undertone made Sasuke wish he'd kept his mouth shut. "As far as perverts go, _you're_ the real target? With that pretty face and nice ass, well, there's only one thing that makes you less girl that me… So how about I fix that?"

It took a moment to get past "pretty face" (indignation) and "nice ass" (stupefaction), to work out what she was getting at. Sasuke paled.

Kizuna smirked viciously, pulling out a kunai. "I'll cut _it_ off!" she hissed, her eyes glinting with the thirst for vengeance.

(Note: _Iya_ is a super girly way of protesting something. Well, not necessarily, but it can be super suggestive, especially the way Kizuna is doing it. It's what blushing school girls in _ero_ (hentai, perverted) anime would say when accosted by the big, bad perverts.)

(And, yes, Kizuna is just screwing with everyone. Nothing actually happened…)

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Omake! 2: She's really a girl

"It's not my fault there's nothing feminine about her," Sasuke hissed, nursing his aching wounds. "Outside of a hot spring, a pervert wouldn't even notice she's a girl!"

Getting neither an agreement nor a vicious defense from Kiba, Sasuke glanced at him with mild irritation. Inuzuka was wearing the oddest expression as he turned to Sasuke. "I dunno… Kizuna's definitely a girl," he said slowly. "… I mean… at the funeral…" he mumbled.

Sasuke lifted an eyebrow. "What, her hanging all over Haruno? That depends on whether you count Haruno as a real male. His hair is _pink_."

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, Kiba snorted. "More telling would be that he's stalking you," he pointed out. "No, I mean… Kizuna, in that black dress… she looked kinda… pretty."

Sasuke had to think back carefully to even vaguely recall what Kizuna had been wearing, but then it came to him – a simple but elegant black dress with a very flattering mini-skirt. "She's got nice legs," Kiba murmured in a kind of stupor.

Well, yes, she does, Sasuke found himself mentally agreeing.

Freezing suddenly, the two boys exchanged horrified looks. "So wrong!" they moaned in tandem.

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End file.
